#great news though it wasnt entirely successful | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

aiweirdness · 3 years

Text

A big neural net reviews a smaller neural net's recipes

I’ve used various neural networks to generate recipes, to varying degrees of success. My earliest recipes were generated with char-rnn, which had to learn everything - spelling, punctuation, words - entirely from scratch. Its recipes were terrible (Swamp Peef and Cheese, anyone? Or Chocolate Chicken Chicken Cake?). Later when I started using GPT-2, I was using a neural net that had already seen a lot of recipes online during internet pre-training, and its recipes looked a lot more realistic (although not entirely realistic - there was that recipe for Black Forest Cake that suggested pouring the batter into a toaster, or the jello recipe that starts with “remove all internal rinds”).

GPT-3, an even more powerful text-generating neural net, has seen so many recipes during its internet pre-training that its recipes are boringly plausible. Bake its Black Forest Cake recipe and you’d probably actually get cake at the end, even if it’s not the best cake in the world. Its recipes aren’t funny at a glance, which is why I haven’t posted any of them - until internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch suggested that, rather than have GPT-3 generate its own recipes, I have it rate char-rnn’s recipes. Readers, it worked.

I prompted GPT-3 with two example recipes from allrecipes, each followed by 3 of their human-written reviews. Then, for the third recipe I inserted one of char-rnn’s recipes:

Chocolate Chocolate Cake

1 cup sugar 1/4 cup butter 1 cup margarine 1 cup cocoa 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup margarine 1/2 cup pecans, chopped 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 egg yolk 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 cup chopped pecans 1 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup cocoa 1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, salt, and salt in a large bowl. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils and stiff peaks form. Add milk and cook until mixture is completely melted. Remove from heat and stir in sugar and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Spread in batter. Sprinkle with pecans.

Yield: 1 servings

And then I let GPT-3 add reviews. Would it mention the excessive lakes of vanilla? The complete lack of flour? The foolhardy reliance on the heroic efforts of a single egg yolk to hold things together?

oxtailsandturnovers Rating: 5 stars 03/04/2007 delicious chocolate recipe!!! and the perfect balance between cocoa and chocolate. and they sure were LONGNECKS! big time rave here. lazy w birthdays w friends and family, try this recipe for something chocolate sweet the ppl will talk about over and over.

AKEMIYUNA Rating: 5 stars appraisal 12/03/2008 Excellent for the kids Halloween party. Everyone got so thrilled by seeing something new on Chocolate in sponge. He even likes nuts separately but it will taste good..

BYOMFYABF Rating: 2 stars 10/01/2008 I could only give it a 2 as I had to make changes to it due to ingredients I had. First, I used Dove Dark Chocolate cocoa instead of Hershey's, no nuts, and the mashed bananas and caramel topping were a must. I did use coffee instead of the hot water, and dark margarine instead of regular, therefore I could not use light whipped cream, but I made homemade whipped cream. It had WAY too much flour in it, but i guess it could have been me measuring heavier than I should have. I also only used 2 cups of flour. it was my first bundt cake, so it was huge!!!

Here’s another batch of reviews, this time of a more chaotic char-rnn recipe:

Simple Soup Alaborate Soup Pie

6 each chopped white perserves; ** (optional but ring) 1/2 cup chopped fresh marjoram 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme 1/3 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup thinly sliced onion 1/4 cup onion (chopped) 1/2 teaspoon garlic; minced 2 small carrots 6 can dry white wine 1 tabasco sauce 1 tablespoon sugar 1/2 cup flour, whipped topping 2 tablespoon chili powder

Marinate: Serves 4. Whip and short under boiling. Add the sliced mushrooms and peppers and stir to coat. Stir the sugar and carrots. In large bowl, beat the egg to make a 1 1/2 tablespoons of the flour. Add shanks and stir it well. Spoon into a frying pan before serving.

Recipe By : DonajehLi Koubmanda

Yield: 8 servings

JEFFREY97389 Rating: 2 stars 03/03/2006 Even though everyone said this was great, I thought it was just 'OK!' The perserves gave a strange flavor to the sauce.

MATTJANDTRACER Rating: 2 stars 01/02/2009 This recipe sounded good. When it came out it tasted a bit like a casserole and not a stew. I used venison instead of deer and pork. I liked the way it turned out, but it wasnt very French.

Hammy Rating: 5 stars The g iving this as a gift as it takes about 10 less minutes but using American cheese and not blended with parsley flakes, lime-flavored gelatin, which is my husband's favorite dish from SuperValu. Just happens to be the creamy sauce. Don't worry about a pie crust.

In fact, the more chaotic the char-rnn recipe, the more chaotic the reviews tend to be, as if GPT-3 has picked up on the chaos and is trying to somehow produce reviews that could plausibly be written by whatever weird humans are visiting this mangled recipe website.

Geilded Peanuts & Crabmeat Basil

3 beef, boneless chops, or thyme, 1 lamber and flince of fresh diced in diagonal 1 parsley 2 large leeks (for garnish) 3/4 teaspoon sesame oil, seeded and peeled 1 any jeans'l-tortilla 1 pepper or cinnamon 1/4 cup baesly pinto beans. (Crushed and thawed; minced fine you recipe) 1 tomato base 1 fat in the last 5 inch plates 1 garlic clove; crushed 1/4 cup dijon mustard

In a large bowl set aside. Remove the sides from the heat and saute with a fork and cover and cook on Low for 6 to 6 hours.

Yield: 6 servings

Morales Rating: 0 stars 03/30/2008 I had high expectations for this recipe, but it was an outright flop. I don't know if the measurements were somehow incorrect or what, but I ended up with a watery mess that certainly wasn't crab salad. My girlfriend, who is a new chef liked it fine, but I really wish that the recipe didn't claim that it made six servings when it really made enough for one, if that's what we were going to call it.

Carole Rating: 5 stars Glorious sobs! This recipe will be delicious for a minumum of 1½ Hours to maximum 2½ hours Time to bring lots of fresh sized potatoes in the house or grow in the age may become quite famous

Amanda Rating: 3 stars 11/13/2009 My friend is having a birthday party and will celebrate with Camping. She's in charge of the dishes and wanted to serve food at the campfire. I'll 10th grade, my easy information for her party. It will not sound strange anyway test this task with a note to work rationally.What to take trees, portable tables for chairs, the main meal, food. I personally love the taste of it but has anyone seen a shepherd (wasn't any spices), oysters. It is sufficient

It does kind of make sense that GPT-3’s recipe reviews aren’t directly complaining about the utter weirdness of char-rnn’s recipes. Probably very few of the recipe reviews in GPT-3’s training data involved baffled complaints about nonexistent or repeated ingredients, or apocalyptic levels of recipe failure. So GPT-3 has learned that even the critical reviews tend to fall within a certain sentiment range. It’s interesting that it tries to emulate char-rnn’s primitive neural net glitchiness - I’ve noticed before that GPT-3 seems to be capable of pretending to be a much simpler neural net.

Subscribers get bonus content: After generating a few reviews, GPT-3 would sometimes go on to generate new recipes (such as “BBQ Cheeseburger Salad” which contains lime jello, whipped topping, and sliced black beans). It may have been deliberately trying to make them terrible to fit in with char-rnn’s recipes.

Speaking of AI-generated recipes: there are some absolute disasters in my book on AI, You Look Like a Thing and I Love You: Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Indiebound - Tattered Cover - Powell’s - Boulder Bookstore

#neural networks #gpt-3 #char-rnn #recipes

327 notes · View notes

iprefertheterminsane · 3 years

Text

What I should be doing; Updating my current BFU/GoMens fanfic

What I am doing instead; drafting an entirely NEW BFU/GOMens fanfic

Here it is;

Story Idea:

BFU*Good Omens, but make it scary.

The Unsolved Crew are trying to return to the airport after a successful hunt in London. Shane suggests they follow a scenic route of no discernible town. They somehow find themselves in a town that is not on the GPS maps with weird vibes and, surprise surprise, their rental breaks down. They have all watched enough horror thrillers to know all the cliché-est plot points. What lives in Devil's Dyke? Are the Them serial killers? Is Warlock going to betray them? Shane and TJ are probably going to die. But most importantly; What does it all have to do with Ryan?

-This is Shyan centric. On their way back to the airport, Shane suggests the crew take a scenic route down South Downs on their way back from London with the promise of a beautiful lake. The London shoots had been rife with sexual tension, and Shane does not want the moment to end.

-They find themselves driving into a town instead, suburbania and quaint. The townsfolk frown at them as they pass by. RP Tyler straddles his barking poodle. They obviously don't like newcomers.

-The rental breaks down. The cliche Ness starts to dawn on them

-"Hahaha, next we'll find out this place doesn't have line!"

-There is no line. They all glare at Mark.

-In a fit of nervousness, Ryan starts offline vlogging. Shane suggests they go into town to ask for someone to call the two service and find someplace with line. Surely SOMEONE will recognize them.

-But strangers look away and walk faster away when they approach. Whoever they manage to start scowling or fidgeting, and none of them seems to recognize the duo. Some even claim to know only faintly of YouTube. It's getting unreal. They do not seem to be joking, and get only more upset whenever the Crew tries to convince or tell them otherwise. It is finally pushing dusk. The Crew stops by a beautiful park. There is no one around, but a young boy, who has a look in his eyes they find relief in: recognition.

-His name is Warlock Dowling, and he showed them a copy of his birth certificate to prove it, claiming that it happens often enough that he has to resort doing so. It's so fucking cliche it hurts. Ryan hates this movie already.

-But Warlock is the son of an American Ambassador who lives in the UK, and thus, likely the only child who seems to recognize them and their YouTube Channel. He is not a big fan, but it's a whole site better than literally everyone else. South Downs is a bedtime story, he claims. It's perfect in the way all the towns in children storybooks are perfect. Nobody plays the internet in a storybook town. It is not a prank. Devon is skeptical.

-Warlock invites them to go to the Ambassador's house a little ways down the airbase near the back of the town, (what kind of horror path will they take? Thought Ryan. Both feel like equally bad ideas.) but they decide to go tomorrow. He directs them to a bed and breakfast instead. All the rooms look the same. The lady barely looks up as she hands them their keys. There is electricity in the rooms, meaning they could charge their appliances. For naught of anything better to do, they are filming this entire experience. They somehow convince themselves that Shane is going to die because Ryan is evidently the Protagonist, and since Shane is his Best Friend, he is either going to betray them or die in a heroic act sacrificing himself for Ryan. In a fit of panic, Ryan tells Shane he has a crush on him. Which is great and sweet and all, but now REALLY seals the deal in because now Shane is a love interest instead. Hasnt Ryan heard of the bury your Gays trope?

-"I knew you guys were gonna end up gay" "what why." "they have to kill SOMEONE off and none of us are black and Ryan s the protagonist."

-They don't find Warlock in the park the next day, and are forced to look for him themselves. Walking of course. They find out about the satanic nunnery that caught on fire on a cafe because the waitress explains that they have to pass through that and the abandoned airbase in the back of the town to get to the villa on foot. They all sigh in exhausted manner, not much in the mood for dying.

-Trudge they do anyway. Nowhere out but through.

-The old satanic nunnery is....not abandoned

-They rush inside and find that it is a company teamwork support organization, and they give out paintball sessions. There is electricity. There is a line, even if the company wasnt currently in season. They try to find a worker.

-They find her. Sister Mary is haggard and busy running an entire company and booking sessions all by herself. She is in turns dismissive and annoyed to moderately tolerant....up until she learns of Ryan's name

-She suddenly wants nothing to do with any of them, practically shoving them out her door and face sheet white, mumbling about being busy and how it wasn't personal. The door slams in their faces. Ryan looks like he is about to cry. Shane snaps.

-He breaks the door down, to the shouts of surprise from the rest of the crew, and announces, with the loud, arrogant nonchalance of a white man, that he is not going to budge until she tells them everything they want to know about Lower Tadfield, the South Downs and yknow the fuck what? Neither will Ryan. The rest of the Crew follow his example and dig their heels in, pretending to film her for good measure. They are counting on the fact that she does not have security, and that even if she calls the cops on them, the building is far too suburbania to find very quickly. Mary looks absolutely terrified, and refuses to look Ryan in the eye. She eventually gives in, on the account that they will soon leave immediately.

-The find out that she was an ex convent of the Chattering Order of St. Berryl's, a satanic nunnery. She came back because she had been born here, and oddly enough, the convent meant something to her. A good dozen of the Satanists died due to a lightning storm catching the nunnery on fire the night two babies had been born, and three left through the gates. She's never been afraid of Lower Tadfield. Nothing ever happens here. They don't buy it, but it's apparent she believes what she is saying.

-They demand to use the present line to call for another rental, cancel their airport tickets, etcetera etcetera, emphasizing that they are excited about leaving just as much as she does. With this promise, she allows them to do so.

--They manage to get their raw footage to Cloud and cancel their tickets but just as they are about to call for a new car, the lights start flickering. The building rumbles. Mary looks straight at Ryan and tells them to run. They grab each other s hands and does so.

-There halfway down the road when TJ yelps, and Devon announces they are being chased by something. They decide to run into the woods down further down south to lose it.

-It is dusk. Nobody is happy. At least everyone is alive though, which is something. Ryan remarks that the chase scenes in the movies are exactly as tiring as they make it out to be.

-Mark hears running water, and the Crew finds an occupied cottage on the shoreline of the sea. Their sighs are loud; both relieved and annoyed. Mark starts chanting/praying that they are not serial killers. Shane announces that everyone must be ready to leave at a moments notice, and sleep in the woods of they must, to everyone's agreement.

-The man who opens the door wears glasses and low slung jeans, eyebrow raised rudely. His husband, blonde and plump, tells him to let them come in, and that it is nearly dinner. They are gracious hosts-old enough to be someone's grandparents. Cute and domestic as well. Shane goes strangely quiet when the couple dances in the living room, and Ryan chalks it up to their romantic relationship, for which they share talks. There are unoccupied rooms they could bunk in-five; each of them reserved for the couple's godkids. Despite getting their own rooms, Ryan cuddles with Shane. He is oddly tense, at least until they start making out.

-Ryan wakes at night to voices in his ear, and decides to get a glass of something to drink. Shane is out cold. He finds TJ in the kitchen, looking at his phone. It is a picture of his family-Kate and their daughter. This is hugely concerning, as it is a surefire telltale that TJ might not make it. Ryan promises him they'll get back home. TJ clasps him on the back and tells him not to make promises he can't keep.

-Shane wakes the crew at 4 am and tells them, quietly, to pack up and leave for town. He had found a map, and determined the way to navigate. They are confused but obliging. They do not wake their hosts-in fact, Shane seems to want to make sure they leave without their knowledge. They find their way back into Tadfield by 8.30 am, and it is only as they are having bfast that Shane tells them that there is no tech but the radio-which isn't plugged in. The water runs, but the pipes underneath the sink are not attached to anything. Crowley does not eat, and his eyes were....weird. Too many red flags. And as he searched the room for maps before Ryan came into his room the night before, he had found a crumpled poker card of the Antichrist, and Devon admits to finding one of War, a horseman of the Apocalypse, in hers. Mark taps his fork anxiously, and his eyes spell out what they all could tell. The climax is soon.

- It is not until Ryan walks and spots a bespectacled child of Warlocks age that he realizes he has barely seen any children in this town, and suggests that they follow him to ask whether he knew Warlock. The rest of the crew return to the BnB for some well deserved rest, but Shane and Ryan pursues the kid....into the forest.

-They lose him until HE found THEM. He immediately recognizes Ryan, who had to introduce his best friend Shane. Two other kids appear from between the trees. One of them, a girl, has a large wooden sword. They are surrounded. Shane grips Ryans hand, and asks, half jokingly, is they are serial killers, and if they are intending to kill him.

-The Them claims that it happened like, one time, and they do not plan to kill Shane, but their smile looks too wide to be genuine, like they are sharing a personal joke. The boys start walking away. The Them follows. Ryan asks if they know Warlock. They stop, sharing looks. Brian asks how they met Warlock. Ryan refuses to tell them . The kids get defensive, the way 13 year olds tend to get when they are about to justify doing a notable offense, like staying awake past bedtime The wind picks up, and the kids get visibly relieved. Brian tells them that Adam is coming, in a way that makes them feel like they definitely do not want to meet Adam. They scram it.

-They are being chased again. This time, when Ryan looks back, he sees what looks like a dog but isn't-like something is badly wearing the skin of a dog, like it has too many limbs to fit into four legs, a slobbering maw and hellfire eyes.

-They manage to leave the woods, and almost get hit by a three wheeled blue car. Shane bangs on the door and it opens for them, and Ryan shouts at them to step on it. It is only when they get to a quaint little cottage at the other end of the town do they acknowledge their saviours-a bespectacled, brown skinned woman and a jittery boyfriend.

-The woman is American. She recognizes them immediately, and says that she is a huge fan of True Crime. It is the most mundane , normal conversation they have for all of 2 days. They enter Jasmine Cottage. Shane slumps.

-there is a horseshoe above the door, and runes etched into the wood. The smell of incense burns strongly, and a redlined conspiracy board in a corner of the kitchen.

-The woman calls herself a professional occultist. A witch, basically. Which is...fine. She is at least honest and blasè about it, which made someone in this godforsaken town at least. Shane spots a picture of the Antichrist on her pinup board, the same one as seen in the poker card he's found in AziCrow's cottage. Anathema notices, and admits that it's complicated. They are confused, angry and terrified, and mentions their encounter with Adam, and everything else they'd had to suffer through as they are stuck in the village. Her facial emotions change from shock, to calculating, to confused, to skeptical, before finally ending In blank. She claims that it is very unlike Adam, as he usually does not go about scaring people from out of the village. He had welcomed her in just fine, and the town had followed short after. Shane asks about the Antichrist and Horsepeople symbolism. She waves that one away, claiming how it wasn't important and that 'They wouldn't believe her anyway.' She offers Meet to drive them back to their Inn, and they accept.

-They get back to the village; as they open the door to their rooms, knowing that the rest of the Crew is waiting for them, Warlock is also there. He takes a single look at them, and raises an eyebrow. They tell him what happened. Warlock frowns. Tells them the only reason they'd been hounded In such a way if Adam wants something from them, and TJ puts his face into their hands.

-They ask if they should lock the door. Warlock tells them not to bother-it won't stop him anyway. Devon asks the possibility of leaving this very night. Warlock shakes his head, but looks contemplating.

-That night, Shane gets kidnapped.

-Ryan doesn't see the culprit, but something tells him it's the Them, and the Hound, and Adam. He runs into the woods. The night is cold and still, but the trees shake like they could be alive. Ryan yells angrily into the void, asking Adam what is it that he wanted, that it's him they actually want, to let Ryan go. He faces the Hound, a slobbering, monstrous nightmare. Ryan thinks he is going to die. There is a boy sitting in a dilipidated throne above a chalk pit with blood red eyes.

-Two headlights pierce through the gloom. The trees still. The hound sits, and Crowley steps out if the Bentley.

-Aziraphale is in the car. Warlock peers over his shoulder. Crowley stomps over and tells Adam to come down-that his game is over, and it stopped being funny for quite some time. Shane stumbles out of the woods, dazed and terrified, and Ryan traps him into an embrace.

-After some chastising Adam admits that he's made a bet with Greasy Johnson in school that Demons and Ghosts are real, and that the Them had managed to convince him that it lives in the woods. He had not believed them, and made them bet that if it was really haunted, Paranormal Investigators would come and make a whole documentary about it. Warlock had showed him a few episodes of BFU, and Adam thought it perfect.

-Crowley scolds him, telling him against manipulating and keeping the Crew here against their will, and Adam looks appropriately chastened. Dawn breaks. The crew emerges from the Inn in a state of panic. Crowley pat's the van twice and it comes to life.

-Someone asked Crowley if the kids really HAD killed people. Crowley waves it away, claiming that it isn't important. In the light of morning, the kids and the dog almost looks normal.

- They decide not to prod any further. Aziraphale apologizes one last time, and tells the that they are welcome in Tadfield if they choose to come again. Ryan and Shane emphasizes that they absolutely will not, ever. Aziraphale nods like he understands. They pack the equipment and leaves the town, possibly England, forever.

-In a few days time, Adam gets an email- a video titled The Horrors of Hogsback Woods, and he grins cheekily to himself.

#BuzzFeed Unsolved #Shyan maybe?#Good Omens #but scary #Warlock Dowling #Anthony Crowley #Aziraphale #Shane Madej #Ryan Bergara #fanfic #fanfic draft #Adam is a little shit #the Them are technically murderers?#tw horror #suspense #ineffable husbands #Devon #TJ Marchbank #Mark

21 notes · View notes

chikkou · 3 years

Note

Will you talk more about Lisa?? Lisa the character specifically but also your feelings on his feelings about Buddy? I just thought your analysis was so good and I want to hear other thoughts you have on her.

yall are honestly spoiling me rn sdhkfdjfks this is like a dream come true

i already got into the stuff with buddy in this ask here but i have a LOT to say about lisa and the connection between her and buddy so u better settle in!

ok so firstly ill start with lisa. i played the original lisa game (lisa the first) not long after it first dropped in 2012, and im not even kidding when i said it changed me LMAO.... seeing a story about a girl suffering is nothing new, but austin jorgensens approach to it was so fucking unique. you dont just witness it, you get to EXPERIENCE it right along with her. many stories that involve sexual abuse/rape show or otherwise depict it explicitly for the shock value, which is both disgusting and, in my opinion, extremely fucking exploitative. i feel that it is horrific to dignify an act so deeply evil with screentime. but lisa stood out to me immediately because, even though you know exactly whats going on, the game NEVER shows anything explicit. everything is layered in subtext and symbolism, and austin is fantastic with indirect storytelling, so you learn so much from just a little drop of information. this applies not just to the game proper, but to the character as well.

in case its not clear: i absolutely ADORE lisa. she is my favorite character in all of the games, bar none. its going to sound kind of fucked up, but as a kid around her age going through some fucked up shit, her committing suicide at the end felt like a sort of victory to me. she knew she could never escape from marty or what he was doing to her. he leaks into every single part of her psyche, everything she ever cared about or loved is ruined because of him, and even the vague memory of her mother is completely corrupted, and turned into a muddled version of him. lisa the first also had the added benefit of some religious commentary, as there are crosses all over their home and marty is characterized as an extremely religious man, which i fucking LOVE and wish had come back in the painful, but its an acceptable loss. anyway, lisa committing suicide at the end was an act of defiance against not just marty, but martys god, as suicide is considered a mortal sin in catholicism. lisa knew she’d never be free of marty in life, so she escaped the only way she could; she was defiant to the end.

ive seen people complain that the painful has a bit of a “lost lenore” thing going on, since lisas death seems to fuel the Manpain of both brad and buzzo, but i actually disagree. on the contrary, its just like austin himself said - lisa will never be gone. lisa is ALWAYS there, with brad, and buzzo, and buddy, and marty, and yado, and the ENTIRE FUCKING WORLD. i dont necessarily think that there is something paranormal going on in the game, but i AM going to say that, unlike other cases of a girl/woman dying for a mans backstory, lisa isnt just a bittersweet memory they can reflect on and then put away when its convenient for them. she is a presence that is felt throughout the entire game. brad sees her more than once, sometimes watching, sometimes reprimanding him. buzzo is clearly haunted by her, as he cries out to her a few times in the joyful. every character who was directly touched by lisa - brad, marty, and buzzo - calls out to lisa as they die. call it their guilt or call it her actions, but in either case, it is clear that lisa just as significant of a character in the painful as she was in the first, even if she cant always be seen. even in a meta-sense, every game in the series - even the joyful, whose protagonist doesnt even know who she is - is named after her. she is at the center of everything that happens in them.

that actually brings me to buddy, because i find the dynamic between her and lisa fucking fascinating. as i previously mentioned, brad never talked about his past with buddy, and snaps at her for bringing up his adoptive son dusty (rando), so it goes without saying that she definitely doesnt know who lisa is. in spite of that, though, lisa is a fucking massive part of buddys life, and while she may not know the person herself, i think she is aware that when people (and brad especially) look at her, they arent seeing HER.

i mentioned it in another post, but even though brad takes it upon himself to raise and “protect” buddy, he seems to almost unwittingly recreate lisas appearance, primarily by allowing her hair to grow long even though he knows what a risk that is to her safety. he also treats buddy in a manner thats incredibly similar to how marty treated lisa (sans sexual abuse, of course) - he insults her, does not let her leave the house at all, and forces her to do unsavory things that no one should ever have to do (in buddys case, this means killing at least two innocent people because brad doesnt want a “weak” daughter). the most literal comparison between buddy and lisa is the fact that they are both very young girls being essentially held captive by their father figures, albeit for different reasons, and both long for freedom from their captors.

theres also the fact that both buddy and lisa have to deal with misogyny and the effects of rape culture firsthand; they both battle against men who feel entitled to do with them whatever they please, and the threat of ongoing sexual abuse looms heavy over both of their heads. neither one can seek help from anyone; the neighbors in brad and lisas town seem complacent at best, if they even know what is happening to lisa at all, and buddys only allies (sans rando) are long dead by the start of the joyful. this is not just a hypothetical or a distant possibility. this is the real, tangible fate that will befall them if they cant somehow secure their safety.

sadly, because lisa wasnt playable in either of the rpgs, we dont know if she was able to fight as brad was, but it is highly probable that she had the innate skill but was never able to learn it (as marty highly discouraged them from learning “their grandfathers karate,” and seemed disgusted whenever brad did so). however, she did have ONE weapon she could make use of, and this is a weapon buddy ends up using, as well - her femininity. she became close to bernard (aka buzzo), made him fall in love with her, and then used him as a last ditch effort to stop martys abuse by having him mutilate her face. im not saying lisa never cared about bernard - in fact, i think she DID really love and care for him - but her own fucked up experiences with “love” meant she really couldnt understand what it was supposed to be like, or that it was wrong to manipulate the people you care about. lisa did very few things wrong - it pretty much just stops at the maiming of the cat and her manipulation of bernard - but she knew that she would never get away from marty without some kind of drastic action being taken, and scarring herself was her last ditch effort before ultimately committing suicide.

buddy ends up taking a somewhat similar tack in the joyful, and like in lisas case, its simultaneously resourceful and horrific. one of buddys key moves in the joyful is to flash the enemy (which the player obviously doesnt see) in order to distract them long enough to get the kill. its fucking horrible and disgusting and makes you feel so dirty, but then, how must buddy feel having to do something like that just to survive? shes just a child, but in a world where almost every man is out to get you, she knows this has to be done to save herself, very much like lisa. unlike in lisas case, though, buddy is successful in securing her safety in this way - lisas effort is for naught, and leads to her committing suicide not very long after.

in a way, i sort of attribute buddys brutality to lisas omnipresence; all of the men pursuing buddy are just like marty, monsters who would harm a fucking child for their own disgusting ends, and i think that when buzzo said that lisa wouldve loved olathe, what he means is that she would have loved seeing so many horrible men being punished for what theyd done. so in my opinion, buddy carving out a place for herself in olathe by killing all those who would subjugate her seems very much in the mentality lisa would have had. sure, there are some innocents who sadly get roped into it, but that would definitely not be her intention; for example, if buzzo could have practiced amputation without harming a living thing, i dont think lisa would have asked him to practice on the cat. note the LACK of brutality at the beehive and the swamp bar, two of the few peaceful places in the painful and both devoid of predatory men hunting for buddy - lisa has no qualm with any of them. but marty? brad could hardly even get a full sentence out before killing him on the spot. i dont doubt that that has a great deal to do with lisas presence.

ok i talked for a while LMAO but basically i think that, in a more metatextual sense, lisa and buddys relationship really strikes me as an accurate depiction of generational trauma. of course it was intentional with the more obvious trauma chain (marty to brad to buddy), but the trauma chain of marty to lisa to buddy is rarely ever addressed due to lisa not physically appearing in the painful. however, i believe it may inform buddys actions a great deal more than people realize - after all, buddys experience is unique, but who could understand it better than lisa? who knows that sort of pain, of being alone on an island, the lone woman trapped with a man (or men) who want nothing more than to cause you harm? even without her realizing it, lisa is guiding buddy, encouraging her to take back what is hers no matter the cost, to punish those who would try to take what they want from her. lisa might be dead, but she is a vengeful presence throughout every game, and buddys actions feel like theyre meant not only to save herself, but to avenge lisa, even if she doesnt realize it. at the end of the day, buddy and lisa both get to exact revenge against all the men who have wronged them, and they succeed. they are aggressive, and violent, and selfish, and ANGRY - and they have every fucking right to be.

#lisa the first #lisa the painful #lisa the joyful #long post #yall GOTTA stop u know good and damn well i will talk about this game all fucking day hdskjdsk #rape mention #abuse mention #lisa #anya's anons

26 notes · View notes

anythingandeverything1d · 4 years

Text

Kidnapped

Your POV:

Harry was performing Treat People With Kindness, one of the last songs before the encore selection, which by the way was your favorite part of the concert. You had been watching from backstage but were getting a slight headache from he chaos of the evening and decided to get some fresh air. You pushed the door open to the backstage lot where the bus was parked. Some fans screamed from a nearby fence and you smiled and waved to them. You loved that they had supported yours and Harry’s relationship so much in the past year, so whenever you had a chance, you tried to make their day. Suddenly a man came up behind you causing you to jump. “(y/n)?” he questioned. He was dressed in black joggers, a black hoodie, and was hiding his face. He was tall, muscular and kept one hand on something in his back pocket.

“Yeah....” you answered cautiously, grabbing a hold of the door handle you had just cone from. You didn't like the way this man was making you feel. He had slightly backed you into the door, continuing to move in closer, his head down and covered.

“You’re the performers girl? You’re the one dating Harry Styles?” he pressed on with an angry tone.

“Uh” you didn’t want to answer that question, in fact you didn’t want to be outside anymore, so you turned around, opening the door and trying to get back inside to where other people were. Thats when everything went downhill. The man grabbed your shirt, yanking you backwards onto the cement. You groaned in pain as your head flew into the ground and he held you down, leaning over your body. From behind his back he pulled a towel dipped in what must've been chloroform and held it around your face, his hands gripping hard at your neck. You struggled, trying to push the man off you. “Help!” you tried looking around for help, but it was no use, everyone was inside and the fans no longer had you in sight. “Harr-” you mumbled trying to call out to him one last time. Thats when your brain went blank and you lost consciousness, Harry being the last thing you thought of.

Harry’s POV:

“Thank you all so much for being an incredible crowd here tonight! You’re all amazing and I love every. single. one. of you!” Harry screamed before running backstage with the band. He was dripping in sweat and looking around confused. You never missed the encore portion of the show, it was one of your favorites. Mitch came off and walked over, clapping him on the back.

“Great job Harry.” He complimented. Harry nodded, still looking around.

“Have you seen (y/n)? She’s never missed this part of the show.”

“I haven’t seen her since the last break, maybe she went to the bus?”

“Yeah...” he mumbled looking down slightly disappointed. “I guess that's it. Maybe she wasnt feeling well?”

“I’m sure that she has a valid excuse.” Harry didn’t look convinced. He had almost become reliant upon you to make it through the last set, you being there watching gave him another burst of energy that fans seemed to love. “We could always skip the encore..” Mitch suggested noticing the concern in Harry’s face.

“No, no she's probably on the bus. Lets finish this thing.” Harry quickly threw his suit jacket on the floor and ran back on stage with a smile. “You didn’t think I was done did you?” The crowd went wild. He performed a few more songs before closing the show out for the night and walking back off stage with the band. He gave everyone a hug before looking around worried. (y/n)’s still not back?” Everyone shrugged their shoulders not sure. “I’m just going to go check the bus real quick and make sure she's okay before cleaning up.” Harry ran to the bus, waving to the fans at the fence before climbing the stairs. “Babe?” He yelled into the empty bus. “(y/n)?” he questioned again, opening the doors and checking the bunks. The bus was completely empty and Harry was getting worried. He ran back inside and found the band collecting their instruments from the stage. “(y/n) wasn’t on the bus has she come through here?” He was tearing his fingers through his hair anxiously, his foot tapping the floor.

Adam looked up and shook his head, “No, but we can help look around here.” The band nodded and everyone went in different directions. Harry had called your phone probably close to 100 times with no success. Everyone met back behind the stage and Mitch stepped forward.

“I didn’t find her, but I did find her phone..” He handed the iPhone to Harry who looked at the cracked screen and shook his head.

“This wasnt like this before, and (y/n) never just leaves her phone on the ground. Something has to be wrong.”

“Harry..if youre worried about it, maybe you should check with security or the police. Maybe they saw her leave or-”

“She wouldn't have just left during the concert.” Harry took off running to find security. His heart was racing and he was feeling dizzy, his head spinning in all different directions trying to process why you would have left. Harry’s guards said they hadn’t seen (y/n) in a couple hours, which only added to the anxiety growing in his chest.

It had been over an hour since Harry had started looking and he was starting to feel sick to his stomach. He had called your family, your friends, and even your ex boyfriend, but no one had heard anything from you in hours. He was down to his last resort. He contacted the police.

“Mr. Styles, when was the last time you saw (y/n)?” the officer questioned. He had sat Harry down in one of the dressing rooms and had been asking what Harry presumed were unimportant questions the entire 30 minutes he had been here.

“Look I don't know it was during the show. Its not like her to just leave though especially without her phone. She’s never not been at one of my concerts.”

“Had the two of you gotten into any arguments recently?” Harry’s mouth dropped and he stood up frustrated.

“If you're not going to actually look for her, I’ll find someone else. I’ll-” Harry stopped when another officer walked in with Clare. She looked at Harry with tears in her eyes. “Clare?” he questioned.

The first officer cut him off, “We have filed a missing persons report Harry, we are just looking for signs as to what may have happened. Getting to know what you and (y/n)’s relationship was like could be a hint as to where she would have gone” A second officer walked in with a sad expression on his face, cutting off the conversation.

“Mr. Styles, after checking security cameras we did find something. I brought the footage however I am going to warn you..its not easy to watch.” Harry grabbed the iPad and watched the screen. He watched the love of his life be thrown to the ground, drugged, and then carried away by some guy. Harry dropped to the floor on his knees, his head fell into his hands and tears fell down his cheeks. He kept rewatching the scene, the man asking about him, you calling out for help, and then him dragging your body into a car.

“This is my fault.”

“Harry no-” Clare tried. Mitch, Adam, and Sarah had joined the room at this point and everyone was trying to make Harry feel better, but there was very little that could calm him at this point.

“She could be dead.”

“Harry-” Mitch tried. The other officer interrupted.

“In most cases of kidnappings, they use the person of interest as a hostage. Looking for money or whatever else. There’s a good chance she's alive. We have every officer on duty keeping an eye out for the car they went into. We have investigators doing their job as well. The best thing you can do is rest and wait patiently for our department to do what they do best.” Harry slowly nodded and looked down at the floor. It was almost midnight and everyone was exhausted, but there was no way harry could sleep at a time like this.

“Harry we can wait up with you.” Adam suggested but Harry shook his head slightly.

“No. That’s okay, you should all get some rest. I’ll wait here for news and if theres anything I can let you know.” They all nodded, following the officers from the room. Harry sat on the couch, he felt like he was going to get sick. He felt like it was his fault. He was scrolling through twitter when he saw the post. Someone had recorded the whole thing, tagging Harry and begging people to help. Harry retweeted the post asking for everyone in the area to be on the look out for the car. Pretty soon it was trending worldwide. He thought that people knowing and looking would make him feel better, but it only worried him more. He did the only sensible thing he could. He dialed the phone, crying “Mum.”

Your POV:

You woke up with a pounding headache, a sore body, and in a dark room. “Harry?” you called out confused but as your brain slowly came back into focus you remembered what had happened. You were locked in some kind of room, you could see a light coming from underneath the door and heard people on the other side. You looked around for something to help you out of the situation but nothing was there. The door opened and you recognized the guy walking in as the one who had originally attacked you. You backed up against the wall and he smiled.

“Glad to see your awake.” He grabbed your arm and pulled you into the room. sitting you in a chair and tying your hands behind your back. “You are playing an important role in our little operation here ya know?”

“What do you want? Look If you just let me go, Harry he can get you whatever money you want.”

“Oh no no. I don't want money. I want Styles to pay. I want him to suffer.”

Harry’s POV:

After talking to his mum, Harry felt a little better. He had gotten a snack and even turned on the tv. He knew that the police were doing everything they could he just wanted them to work faster. He was nearly asleep when his phone rang. The officer calling had located the car and the building where (y/n) was. They were moving in to extract her from the location now and would call back when they had more information. “Wheres it at? I want to be there when she gets out.”

“Mr. Styles I advise against that-”

“Where is she at.” He growled. The officer reluctantly gave up the location and Harry had driven straight there. His heart was pounding, tears were threatening to spill from his eyes, and cop cars were everywhere. He watched as officers with guns out moved in towards the building, announcing their presence and asking for a surrender . Harry walked up to the line, trying to follow suit but was held back by an officer, saying “You going in could be the death of your girl if you walk in there Mr. Styles.” That stopped him he didn't want to risk the safety of (y/n) anymore than he already had. He anxiously paced waiting for everyone to come out. There were gun shots inside and Harry dropped to his knees, crying.

Your POV:

The guy shot at an officer, missing. The officer shot the guy in the shoulder yelling surrender. You were crying. You were still tied up in the chair when more officers rushed inside and cut the ropes. They shouted at you to put your hands up and you followed their instructions as they led you out of the building. You were scared and tired but all you wanted was Harry. You wanted the comfort of his arms, his smell, his voice. You wanted him to hold tight and never let go. You wanted to go home. You heard your name being shouted and looked up, Harry was being restrained by an officer and you sprinted over to him. The officer dropped Harry and you flung into his arms, sobs echoing through your chest. He held you tightly, his tears dropping onto your head as he tried comforting you. “Youre okay baby... youre safe and no one is ever going to hurt you again. I swear I won't let anyone hurt you.” An officer tried escorting you into the car for a statement but you refused to let go of Harry. Harry told the officer he would drive you to the station in his car, but you still refused to let go. “(y/n) we need to do this so we can go home. I need you to let go baby.” he whispered. You nodded against his chest and reluctantly let go, getting into the car. You didn’t talk in the car but Harry held his hand on yours the whole way. At the station Harry sat with you while you retold the story over and over again and when you were finally done he took you home. You crawled into bed with him even though it was almost 5am. He held you close, rubbing your back and whispering softly. “Shh baby just try to sleep okay.”

You were still crying, gripping onto Harry for life. “You won't be here though...You won't”

“(y/n...shhh” Harry kissed your head and tilted your chin so you were looking into his eyes. “I am not leaving you. Not now. Not ever. I cancelled the show tonight. Youre more important and we are going to take time getting back into things. I want to arrange more security for you before any events start. Baby just rest okay? I promise you I am not moving until you move out of this bed first.” He kissed your lips softly and pulled the comforter up so it touched your ear, tucking you in just the way you liked. He started gently singing your favorite song and your eyes were closing. “I love you baby.”

“I love you Harry.” He kissed your nose and continued on with the song. You finally felt safe again, snuggled into the chest of Harry and listening to the sound of his heart paired with his voice. For the first time in what seemed like forever you felt safe again.

Hope whoever requested this enjoys! It’s not something I would normally tackle but I did my best lol

#one direction #directioners #one direction fanfiction #one direction imagines #Harry Styles #harrystyles #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles imagines #harry styles imagine

101 notes · View notes

oh-theatre · 4 years

Text

Just A Remnant Now

A/n: lmao this is so bad im so sorry,,, lmaooo ITS SO BAD

TW: Death, spirit, spit, farting, destroy, pain, graphic descriptions, ANGST, no happy ending

“Im sorry Remus I cant talk to you right now, its been months and I cant figure out where this spirit energy is coming from” Logan huffs. “Tomorrow is my presentation and if i have nothing to show for it my entire funding, this project crumbles” He rambles. Remus follows him, his feet carry a sweet lightness as he listens.

“What will they do with the spirit or ghost?” Remus questions, sitting on one of the cold benches focusing hard as he fiddles with something in his hand. A cold breeze as Logan snatches the tool away from him. “Hmph” Remus pouts

“My guess? Ill get a whole team of scientists! A whole new lab with facilities and so much more! And ill tear it apart and study every aspect” Logan beams, the glint in his eye sickened Remus.

“So you'll kill it?” Remus scoffs “Seems kinda brutal”

“No ill just...take it apart to...examine its..origins and what it can do and...its a ghost what does it matter Remus?” Logan inquires, typing viciously away at his keyboard.

“They still have feelings, their sensories are there!” Remus argues, feeling his face flush. “The way you plan to tear them apart is inhumane! Its against their will Logan, they are still forms of living.

“They are, in every sense of the word, not Remus. They are dead, figments of what used to be. They cant feel pain, or emotion, they are a remnant” Logan explains

“They are more than that! Lo you're not listening!” Remus stands now, Logan could be intimidating but Remus towered over the scientist.

“Im not listening because you don't know what youre talking about” Logans cold glare would pierce anyone but not Remus. “You're just my engineer.” He spits

Though i wish we could be more, both think in unison through their frustration.

“They have the memories of their old life, they have feelings, they have feelings of the world they must traverse through now as a spirit. They develop feelings, emotions, memories and more. They travel through to the middle ground between living and dead. If they accept it, they move on but some choose to stay!” Remus finishes, his breath cold as it spits on Logan. “Some don't have a choice! Some are tethered! But they aren't just ghosts Logan. They live in the now, through whatever means. Tearing them apart with my molecular design would kill them, and every ounce of pain felt would hurt just as much as it would to you.” Remus finishes, his body shakes, he tries his best to keep solid to the ground.

“You've developed emotions for these things” Logan rolls his eyes. His judgment was not missed. “And if im not mistake, its your device Remus” Logan reminds

“You're right...it is” He turns to where the device sits immaculate, his design perfect. Such as the mad genius he was. He took his work in his hands, feeling every ounce of metal and wiring that was in it. Then, in the flash of an eye, the machine crashed. It fell to the ground with the force of anger, Logans shock and frozen state was unmissable as the pieces clattered around the ground.

“What have you done” He whispers viciously. Remus stands triumphant feeling the pain inside.

“What I should have done as soon as I made it” Remus sighs.

“Why do you care so deeply for these things! You have no idea what they are or what they do!” Logan yells, his voice echoes through the lab.

“For how smart you are.. youre so fucking dumb Logan!” Remus argues back. “For months the same spiritual energy has been popping up on your monitor! You couldn't put two and two together?” He smirks. “You really think after your failed convention last year they would send you an engineer?”

“What are you saying” Logan breathes

“You're so dumb Logan!” Remus swipes an angered hand across the table, tools crash to the ground.

“Stop calling me that” Remus’s accusations had cut deep.

“You call me that at least once every hour!” The continue arguing, it hurts each of them more than can be described. Each new insult is a breach to the relationship they had built up over the past year. Finally Remus couldn't keep it in anymore. “Im the spirit Logan!”

the silence that fell through the lab was piercing.

“I didn't want to move on because fuck closure, so i found you. I liked what you were doing...or at least what i thought you were doing. But once i had built the machine i could have left...but I liked you Logan. Plus you hadn't found a spirit! I thought hey maybe this will be the final piece of the puzzle...” Logans speechless breaths were terrifying. Remus cant help but reach out, he focuses allowing his hands to solidify. He takes Logans hands. “Watch” He instructs, after a quick thought Logans hands fall through Remus’s hold.

“no no” He tries desperately to grasp to Remus, he wants to feel his hands. “No no lies lies all of it” He spirals, Remus just watches knowing this was inevitable. Remus feels a tug at his heart, he works quickly and the machine is one again. Logan remains at his desk, murmuring nonsense.

“Lo?” Remus for all his chaos, had the softest voice. “Take me...to the demonstration tomorrow” he offers. Logan looks up finally, his eyes red from thoughts. “I was just another chess piece for your game, just use me...i don't think i wanna stay around much longer anyway” He sighs.

“No Remus. We have to stop this project.”

“what?” Remus barely breathes.

“I was wrong...I was wrong and so misguided.” Logan admits, he has no idea if his next move would work but he takes Remus hands feeling a warmth as they stay solid in his hold. “You were never a piece...but I was wrong. Because they can feel, you feel...and I feel you” He moves a hand to Remus cheek. Logan had never seen this energetic bumble of ‘not safe for work’ jokes and buzzing laughter so...tired. And it was his fault. “You feel pain and joy and sadness and-”

“Love” Remus adds, Logan holds back his desperation.

“I was truly an idiot, I was so focused on not looking like a failure I forgot my true goal. To discover and explore...not destroy” Logan sighs “I wanted to learn, but i let that go and became this”

“You dont wanna...destroy?” Remus cant quite wrap his head around it.

“No god. I wanted to understand! But i let the success and money get to me. And i lost sight of who I was. You arent a danger...you are a miracle” He smiles ever so slightly. “SOmething I love so much is not worth destroying” He states

“Love?” Remus feels himself relax.

“So..so much” Logan says

��Hah you're in love with a ghost” Remus teases, Logan sighs with a giggle and a playful eye roll.

“I still have the machine remus” Logan threatens with a grin. Remus steps back and gasps his collar.

“How dare thee!” He cries ever so mockingly. “I thought you cared”

“Woe is you” He laughs quickly pulling Remus into a kiss.

Yeah its weird, but so intriguing. He expected a cold chill but received warmth in Remus’s embrace.

They canceled the demonstration and gracefully stepped away. Years passed and Logan desperately tried to find a solution, he wanted Remus to stay, to be here in all his physical form. But on a quiet fall night, Remus was sprawled across the couch trying to dunk cheese balls into his mouth. Logan sat at his work bench concocting as he did. Logan had had his doubts over the years, Remus was a ghost. But Remus explained that the longer he was on earth he felt tethered a developed a physical form. He wasn't a human but he wasn't a ghost, almost a third party but he was real.

But he was fading.

And Logan worked tirelessly to find out what he could do. He had consulted with Virgil and Patton, two scientists who had done great strides for the world of science. He constantly worked alongside Janus but to no avail. Remus was fading, he would have to go soon. Remus didn't mind, all he tried to do was comfort his partner but Logan, for as smart as he was, was in deep denial.

But this fall night, as a cheesy treat fell into Remus’s mouth his image flickered. This caught Logans eye from his work.

“Remus?” He rushed over watching Remus sit up straight. The flickers were slow before they became full glitches and constantly. “No i need more time. Surely.” He could feel his tears coming.

“Promise me youll find someone? Whos maybe not a farting ghost” Remus shrugs, Logan shakes his head, this wasnt the time for jokes. “Logan you knew this was coming. Also lets be honest, it was weird im a ghost”

“You're not though! You're a tethered!” He cries

“Guess my tether snapped” Remus sighs. He wanted to spend these last few moments in sweet bliss but instead, in true Logann fashion, he was arguing. “Come cuddle me you obnoxious man” He pouts

He knows its a joke but the sadness in Remus’s eyes finally catches up to the scientist. He obliges sitting with Remus. They do cuddle, and Remus finally lets go. His tears are soft and he doesnt think much but he doesnt know whats going to happen next.

“You should get a dog” He sniffles, Logan laughs dryly stroking the messiest hair he had ever known. “Also Janus totally likes you” Remus wasnt oblivious to the way Janus looked at Logan. But he didn't mind, Logan was his...but he wanted his partner to be happy once he was gone.

“Perhaps, but let me just...let me mourn alright?” Logan asks

“Fine, but promise me you wont mourn forever, please?” He holds up his pinky, Logan rolls his eyes but promises either way. Remus leans up a tad to kiss Logans cheek. “Lets just sit here ok?” He requests, Logan grants it. “I love you Logie” He knows that only he is allowed to call him such a name. They sit in silence, feeling the heartbeats and warmth. Every intimate move felt so careful.

“I love you so much” He says after a moment of silence, he awaits a response but looks down to see Remus was no longer there. A small gasp as he takes to his chest. This is what it felt like, so much pain. They never conducted the experiments but as he clutched his heart and sobbed loudly he imagined this was close enough.

#intrulogical #logan sanders #remus sanders #sanders sides #write #writing #youtube #angst #no happy ending #thomas sanders #fanfic #fic #fanfiction

48 notes · View notes

dobrikburrito · 5 years

Text

great expectations, d.d.

words: 2.4k

Write something about david surprising his girlfriend with a surprise trip to like hawaii cos its her dream vacation and when the vlog goes up people compare it to the vacation dav and liza took and it makes her upset and her cheers her up. ( She wasnt a public figure and people didnt think they should be together)

disclaimer: angst & fluff. david being cute af.

⠀

“Okay, give it to me.” You sat down by the corner of his bed, putting both of your hands out and closing your eyes. You smiled to yourself. “That’s what she said.”

David burst out laughing. “Can you be serious for one minute?”

“You’re one to talk,” You opened your eyes and gave him a dirty look. “By the way, I just want to say on the record that David promised that nothing gross was about to happen here. I wanted to put this out there so he can be held accountable if I have a heart attack.”

David couldn’t stop laughing, so he pointed the camera to himself. “I did promise that, unfortunately, so I had to put the anaconda away.”

“That’s what she said.” You laughed and slapped yourself. “Bad (Y/N). Alright, me-serious. Go.”

“You know how our friends say we’re really annoying with the whole anniversary every month?” David started and you nodded. “So, I had this really fun idea, which actually makes me a genius.”

“Show off.” You commented under your breath and he chuckled.

“So I decided to combine our fourth month anniversary with your birthday and…” David put two plane tickets on your hands.

You looked at David, confused and then took one second to read the tickets. Your mouth instantly dropped. “What the fuck? Oh sorry.” David laughed. “Wait, are you serious? Is this real?”

“Yes, baby!” David was loving how shocked and paralyzed you were. “This says Hawaii in it.” You commented, looking at it, trying to find any clues that it was a fake ticket for a prank.

David turned the camera to himself. “She’ll get there, just give her a minute.”

“Are we going to Hawaii?” You looked at your boyfriend, puppy eyes and jaw to the floor.

“Yeap, we’re spending 7 days in a mansion in Hawaii.” David told you and the new information just hit you even harder?

“What the fuck?” You were looking away, shocked. David burst out laughing again.

Cut to you guys on the plane, first class tickets, with a fake flower on your ear, being all excited and childish. David ordered two glasses of champagne for the both of you.

“This is literally so extra,” You laughed, posing as some fancy old lady, then doing a british accent. “David, dear, would you please take care of my ponies for the summer. I’m spending it in my mansion in Dubai. I miss my liquid gold pool.”

“Why are you british?” David was laughing so much.

“I’m not talking like Dom to try and look fancy, silly.” You joked around, then smiling to your boyfriend.

You arrived to Hawaii, rented a porsche, headed to the rental house in Kamuela. David filmed you driving there, your hair flying on the wind, loving how big the smile on your face was. The drive was about 50 minutes, which earned some shots from the road, the two of you singing to Ariana’s songs and being overall weirdos.

David filmed your whole reaction to the massive mansion just for the two of you. Feelings every feeling known to man at once, you couldn’t help the tears of happiness when you saw how beautiful everything was. It had an infinity pool, a jacuzzi, a green big yard, enormous rooms with an amazing view to the sea and sunset. David didn’t want to tell you the day price of the rental at first, but you managed to get it out of him, shocked when he told you it was US$1.5k for the night.

It was a lot of money, but you made a 7-days schedule to enjoy the most of it and have so much footage for his vlogs that the trip would end up paying itself. Honestly, you were always amazed by how David never really thought twice about spending money on you and making sure that he was doing it because he loved to. Rarely spending on himself, this was just as rewarding to him.

The next three vlogs were filled with the funniest moments of you guys snorkeling, golfing, hiking, sightseeing, watching cultural concerts, doing surf lessons (which turned out horribly), visiting local markets even going on a helicopter ride, even though you were scared to death of the height.

On the fourth day, you woke up before David did. You just took one moment to watch him sleep, so peacefully, next to you. You knew how lucky you were to have him in your life, but not because he was a successful youtuber or because he had money. When you met him, randomly at a friend’s friend party, you didn’t even knew who he was and you loved him instantly, his humor and charm sweeping you off your feet.

Even though you weren’t a public figure nor ever was used to having cameras around, you got used to it, compromising for your relationship with him, knowing how this was basically his entire life.

“You know I can feel you staring at me, right, creep?” David said, eyes still closed but a little smirk lurking in his lips.

“I’m trying to decide when to murder you, that’s all.” You softly joked as you ran your fingertips over his cheeks. David loved your dark humor and laughed to himself, taking your hand and kissing it.

“Good morning my favorite serial killer.” He lazily opened his eyes.

“Good morning pretty boy.” You gave him a long peck on the lips. “Did I tell you how much I love you yet?”

“Not today, no.” David snuggled closer to you, humming happily when you started caressing his hair.

“I do. I love how you do that little smile with your tongue hanging and how no matter what you do to your hair, it always kinda looks both great and like you’re turning into a mad scientist.” David chuckled, hiding his face on your neck. “I love how you’re always looking to hold my hand, even when you don’t realize it.”

“Tell me more,” David gave you a sweet kiss on the neck.

“I love how you respect and love me. How you look at me with those shiny brown eyes and how those are the reason I never can’t get mad at you, which by itself makes me mad.” You sighed, then laughed. “And how selfless you are, how much you care for your friends even if sometimes you try to not to show it too much.”

“You wanna know what I love about you?” David looked up at you, his hair looking like he was definitely a mad scientist, which instantly made you chuckle. “I love your butt.”

You burst out laughing, putting your hand on his face. “Asshole, I was here pouring my heart out like a good old Todd Smith poem and you do me like that.” David chuckled for a good minute, hiding his face again and holding you tight. “My butt is pretty good, I guess.”

David nodded and you pulled his hair. “Ouch, (Y/N), the fuck.” He looked back at you. “Wait, do it again.” You rolled your eyes and tried to let go of him, only earning you deathly tickles.

Since his next posting day was tomorrow, you reserved half the day for David to edit some of the footage of the trip to post. The video was up early in the morning, after long hours of editing, so through the first couple of hours since the video was up, David was asleep on your bed.

Curiosity always got the best of you and you checked the video again, loving the whole montages and fun moments, but your attention soon focusing on the mean comments.

Can someone make an edit with all the same scenes from this vlog and David and Liza’s vlog in Hawaii? lol

Someone tell David he found a gold digger, plz.

She’s trying too hard to replace Liza, never gonna happen hun.

Who’s gonna tell her the minute Liza calls David will drop her ass? lmao

All this money dropping on what’s-her-name. Not even that pretty tbh.

Damn she must have a top sex game to whip him up like that.

How’s it like being a long-ass rebound for David while Liza is away?

This is literally the same trip he did with Liza wtf

David can do so much better she doesn’t deserve him

I kinda like her but she’s clearly after his clout

Every word was a knife to the heart, over and over and over again. It broke your heart how much comparison there was between you and Liza, and how come most of his fans never accepted you. This wasn’t the first time you read mean comments, but this time it was deeper. They knew exactly how to hurt you.

You were sitting by yourself by the porch, looking out of the amazing view of Hawaii, a dream come true for you. Wrapped up in a small blanket, you couldn’t help but cry to yourself. The feeling you had is that your relationship was doomed for the start and that you’d never live up to his fans’ expectations because you simply wasn’t Liza.

“There you are, I’ve been looking all over for you.” David made his way towards you.

You quickly cleaned the running tears, knowing it wasn’t doing much, since your face was read and swollen. David was taken aback by the sudden change of pace.

“Wow, (Y/N), are you okay? What happened?” Sitting by your side in the porch chair, his brows were furrowed, worried.

“Nothing, sweetie. I’m just thinking about everything and feeling so happy about this trip and how much I don’t deserve you for being so amazing.” You were a terrible liar and he knew you pretty well.

“I appreciate the compliments, but I don’t like when you lie to me.” David caressed your thigh, comforting. “We don’t keep secrets, remember?”

“I’m going to be fine, I promise. I just need one moment.” You laughed and cleaned the tears again.

“(Y/N).” That was all he said.

You sighed, knowing you wouldn’t get out of this so easily. Deciding to comply, you read him all the youtube comments you had read. David tried to speak in between, but you stopped him until you went through all of it. His hands slid through his face in frustration.

“I’m so sorry you have to go through this, baby.” He held your hand. “You don’t deserve this kind of hate. This is all my fault. I should’ve kept our relationship to ourselves.”

“This is not your fault. I love our relationship and I love our dynamic and somehow you made me love being in the vlogs. You know I support you no matter what, but I feel like I’m facing a war and losing everyday. No matter what I do, I’ll never be Liza. They’ll never accept me for me. I’ll always live down to unreachable expectations because I’m not famous nor funny enough or pretty enough or skinny enough.”

“You know I don’t care about any of that, isn’t that enough?” David’s heart was shattered by watching you cry like that, seeing how much you were hurting.

You caressed his hand with your thumb and smiled to yourself, though still sad. “Dave, when you introduced me to your life, I had no idea what any of this meant. You taught me a lot about how your life works and I adapted, because I wanted this, us. It’s so hard to be used to the cameras, the need for content, the clickbait, but I did it because I love you. You’re always enough for me, but I know I feel like I’m not enough for you.”

“(Y/N), don’t say that…” His eyes were starting to tear up.

“No, it’s okay. I understand. This is a big part of your life, it’s your career. You’d never ask me to give up on my job or personal dreams, neither would I.” You took a deep breath. “But I try to be strong and… T-to try and ignore all the hate, but it’s just so many comments. Instagram, youtube, twitter. The good ones are so rare.”

David didn’t know what to say. Your tears were rolling down your face again. “I know I shouldn’t look at it, but it’s stronger than me. I just wanted them to give me one real chance, you know?”

“Come here.” He said, pulling you up for a tight hug. “I know this sucks and it’s hurting you and I hate it, because you’re amazing and you don’t deserve any of this.” He caressed your hair. “You wanna know what I love about you? Besides your butt, I mean.”

You looked up and chuckled lightly. David cleaned the tears away.

“I love that you always check me when I’m being an idiot. You always give me your honest opinion. You treat my friends like family. You stay up late with me when I’m editing even if you sleep by the couch with me, because you don’t want me to be alone.” David caressed your cheeks. “You have the prettiest smile and seeing it instantly makes me happy, no matter what. You motivate me and inspire me. I love how you cook for me and how you’re always talking with my mom, letting her know I’m being healthy. How much my parents and siblings love you.”

You sighed, happy. You gave him a soft kiss on the lips.

“I love how you make me think about having kids, because I often see how much of a great mom you’d be. I love planning with you, surprising you, thinking about our future together, because I know that if I wanted to drop this whole thing tomorrow, you’d be there for me.” David kissed you again. “You’ll never be Liza and I love you for it, because I don’t want you to be. I want you to be you, because that’s who I fell madly in love with.”

“Oh my God. I’m crying more now, stupid. Look what you did.” Chuckling softly, you hugged him tight again. He returned the hug.

“I’m sorry these haters keep hurting you, but I promise I’ll be here to kick their ass and assure you that you’re absolutely amazing, okay?” David pointed out.

You nodded, overwhelmed by how much you loved that boy. “I love you, stupid.” You smiled.

“I love you too, dumbass.” David smiled and kissed all over your face.

#david dobrik #david dobrik x reader #david dobrik fluff #david dobrik angst #david dobrik one shot #david dobrik fanfic #david dobrik imagine #david dobrik imagines #vlog squad #liza koshy #request

761 notes · View notes

lambvein · 4 years

Text

Cheerful Host-part 7 (Reupload)

I have been working full time at the velvet spike for a week…I want to leave so bad but these skanks are in charge of me now. Ive been cucked for so long now to the point where even the slightest touch in a sensitive area puts me on the edge, the girls love to take advantage of that. Its now the end of the week. They sat me down in a leather seat in our change room whilst fondling me and discussing the future of my body…

It wasn't until boulders spoke up that I wanted to scream my heart out “Hey girls, I think I have an idea for new upgrades for our perfect bimbo”.

“What could that be, hun?” Ariana asked with anticipation.

“Why not get this bitch some breast implants?” Boulders suggested.

The bimbo crew became excited. I could tell because my body began to electrify again…it felt…so amazing…

“great idea boulders!” Jugg’s, the slut commander agreed.

The horny controllers took my horny haze as an opportunity to exit the strip club and recieve my implants.

We approached a new house in the ghetto where I recieved my kim kardashian sized booty…I cant believe I just called it that.

“Ready for your upgrades, mountains?” Candy tauntingly asked.

"Please girls I'll do anything please, please dont make me any bigger!" I begged and begged with no success.

They opened a large crate in the living room which held four implants. Both equally as large. Two times the size of watermelons.

“Wait four implants?” I began to panic at what was infront of me.

“Aw hell yah!” Boulders, kim ,nicki and ariana began to celebrate in anticipation for their inevitable size increase.

“Knock her out candy” Jugg’s dictated.

“With pleasure” candy spoke with lust in her voice.

My cunt pushed into overdrive…it was mezmerizing…candy pushed me to my limit without giving me the satifaction of climax. I tried as hard as I could to control it but nicki and ariana didnt stand for that and began to make my tits feel like they were being fondled by a million little hands…I was drooling and dripping with cum out of my sparkly short-shorts and skin tight thong. I needed release. I couldnt take it anymore and gave in…everything went black…but not for the sluts…

I woke up to exactly what I expected…titflesh now took up my entire view. Nothing but cleavage as far as the eye could see. There was also the constant feeling of sitting on a couch even though I could feel nothing but hard floor against my dainty hands. The implants were indeed now inside of me sloshing around with my already massive amount of tits and ass.

“Cmon hoes lets show mountains her new mountains!” Boulders commanded.

The whores happily complied and lifted me off my feet with my body and strutted me over to the bathroom to get a full view of my situation. On the way they made sure to bounce me as much as possible which for some reason felt even better than before…

“LOOK AT US!” Juggs exemplified her point by showing off the shear amount of fake, plastic flesh I now sported. She took several hand fulls of my tits and ass groping and posing me in what felt like a million different ways…and it all felt...so good. she then made a pout with my face and spoke “I think we can do even better”.

Jugg’s then pulled out a small sparkly chest full of makeup and beauty appliances. Jugg’s took to work on my lashes first increasing their length by first applying several layers of fake eyelashes until it was a struggle to keep my eyes open. She then gave me baby blue contact lenses and applied cheap whoreish eyeliner to top it off. The face wasn't done yet. She applied TEN layers of hot pink lipstick to assure no matter how much cock I sucked it wasnt gonna come off. They then proceeded to adhere glitter to my lips to give them a perfect slut sparkle. Lastly, long fake hot pink nails were glued to my hands.

“Were not done yet slut” jugg’s reached all the way to the bottom of the box and pulled out a foot long dildo.

Jugg’s purred while viewing its sheer girth before firmly placing it inside my vagina.

“OH FUCK THATS GOOD” Candy was in ecstasy.

I could tell because I now had no choice but to feel her pleasure.

“Ferfect!” Jugg’s giggled in a high pitch tone while fluffing our hair and fucking with our tits once more.

“Hhmmmmm, im still not satisfied” Jugg’s spoke in a distrot voice. “We look good but I feel like we can look even better than any slut could ever hope to achieve”.

What was Jugg’s talking about? Regardless, I was about to find out as I was escorted out of the whore house into the streets to presumably have more changes made to my figure and appearance. As I was forced to bounce down the street I recieved many unwanted catcalls, whistles and hollers from several men and even a few butch women. I hated the attention but the tingles I could feel all over my assets indicated the bimbos LOVED IT. The bimbos only fed the perverts by flaunting and flashing me as much as they wanted too. This is pure misery…but it felt so good…

30 notes · View notes

polyamorous-mysme · 4 years

Note

What's your opinion on Jimin and V? They both infuriate me because of the way they handled things in the routes. I think Jimin gets a little bit better at the end of his route, but V doesn't seem too. He doesn't tell Saeyoung about his brother, just shows up one day Saeran in tow and is just like 'I'm back'. Even if Saeran didn't want to go back yet, he could at least told Saeyoung what was going on.

tbh most of my opinions on every mm character is that you just have to completely disregard how Normal ppl would act given that the plots of mm are so wild and unbelievable. on the other had though i get why people have qualms w certain characters for how they handle the plot. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ eso si que es

But. as far as jumins route goes i think they just fucking did him dirty w it. with the second bad end/chats leading to it especially. I know it sounds weird to say given that it's his route but those few days are so fucking OOC for jumin. i mean I'll find my own ways to rationalize it bc it Can be rationalized if you care to, but not everyone will. because its fucking weird. not even the end itself but jumin leading up to it.

that being said i LIKE jumin and i like his route save for that. jumins hidden or has Had to hide his emotions and opinions his whole life. his father frequently brings new women in and out of his life, one of the only two people hes ever been able to trust has just committed suicide and he feels like he doesnt even Know either of them anymore, and then MC comes along getting him to open up making him Trust them again and hes worried something similar is going to happen. yeah yeah cat ran away whatever but to ignore what its ACTUALLY about is impossible. rika was one one of the only people and the only Woman he really trusted wholeheartedly as an equal and shes dead the cat she gave him is missing and being overprotective of MC is his one way of gaining control again. if I couldn't rationalize that though it absolutely would have skeeved me out from the get-go, though. so im not surprised Or affronted by the fact that ppl find it irredeemable ig.

now V. V is an even weirder story. he clings to rika from the moment they first met because dont ask me why. i dont know why. is she supposed to remind him of his mother? weird. is he genuinely just that nice of a person? probably. and rika is fucked. rika is traumatized and has been since young childhood. she suffers from what someone who doesnt experience delusions thinks delusions are or how they feel. whatever. and V loves her So Much that if she wont GET help he wont force her so hes going to do whatever He can to help her. until it goes really fucking wrong.

and let's all just be honest and say everything about seven and saeran and especially their backstory doesnt make sense. it ABSOLUTELY hinges on suspension of disbelief. but there are some aspects that do make sense. the stronger older brother in an abusive household is trying to keep himself And his sickly younger brother safe and sane. stumbles across v and rika and we already know mm doesnt Quite take place in our world as we know it and i know fuck all about typical korean life and families so I couldnt tell you why they didnt report their home life to the authorities from the get go. also this whole thing doesnt fucking make sense bc seven and saeran look like MAYBE 10 at this point and V is only 5 years older than them max but him and rika have obviously been together for a while and are Adults here. doesnt track. timeline dont make sense. angway.

but the way I see it is rika had Already started to plot mint eye yadda yadda here and knew that if the boys were separated she could control seven publicly as the stronger twin in a way that makes it seem like they're helping and protecting them both, they just have to be separated. seven can roll w the loneliness and grief of having to leave his brother behind as long as it means hes safe. and w saeran, she can use that same grief and loneliness to manipulate him a different way. behind the scenes. create her perfect believer who will do Anything she says because she saved him, why shouldnt she save everyone else? and j think by the time V realized just how bad rikas mental state was it was too late to Fix it. but he loved her he loved the RFA and the RFA loved rika. he didnt want to taint or tarnish her image w the reality of who she is what shes been doing etc.

after that it's a series of unfortunate events and fucking stupid decisions v thinks hes making for the good and sanity of everyone else. hes given himself a "I'm not a hero i just Have to bear all this by myself forever and fix it alone with no help and save Everyone in the end" complex that sure is with great intentions but leads down a rabbit hole of hurt and fuckery that he cant fix. ever. and I think he was worried about telling seven about saeran because if he had he KNOWS seven would have gone after him alone. and he would have been hurt or killed or worse. he would have been. and V was still trying to save whoever he could. save rika and Hope he could save saeran? save saeran and Hope he could save rika? who knows. I dont. I think V had the BEST intentions. i do. i think he was just a bit of a Rudely untrusting dumbass carrying them out.

but that's what mm is. MC is the character that is meant to push the characters into healing from their fatal flaw. yoosung is slipping from success because up to that point hes hinged his entire future on his older cousin. zen. i dont remember. has to find a happy balance between shooting for the stars but not hiding himself or who he is while doing it? something gay like that. jaehee pushes herself too hard to be successful. to not be a burden. to be financially and socially stable and safe above her own happiness. jumin is cold and untrusting and hides himself because the last time he wasnt/didnt, he got Hurt. seven is the same gay shit as jumin and zen with the added bonus of needing to learn that mc can make their own decisions wrt danger. v needs to stop carrying the world on his shoulders. saeran . . . needs to heal. learn that his life is not intrinsically tied to the lives of others and he can still love people but be his Own person, whole and healed. whether or not you the individual player believe that by the end of the route theyve gotten their first real step in the right direction is up to you.

anyway stream room 206 ep by elah hale on spotify.

#not headcanons #onions have layers

3 notes · View notes

thekingofwinterblog · 5 years

Text

Game Freak, Stagnation, Luck and the Refusal to Change

Its Amazing how much fucking grief Game Freak could easily have avoided if they simply said it would take a few months post launch to impliment all pokemon.

No one would have given a shit, they would have gotten away with halfassing everything else, having the A Team working on a game no one asked for, they could take their time, and all the hype would have remained at the top of the world.

Then again if they did that, it would have required actual work, and maybe expanding the company. And God forbid they actually invest any of those billions of Dollars they have earned over the Years.

Amongst all of Nintendo’s teams and Secondary companies, Game Freak is the most stagnant, and that can in Large part be contributed to their immense success. they started with around 150 people, and they currently have around 150 people. They have Stubbornly refused to expand the rooster over the year, despite the fact that they Struck gold better than literarly any other Company in the Game industry.

This in turn Lead to the Company growing stagnant, not innovating, and in general not really going foreward nearly as much as other companies.

There is a question to be made though. Was it always this way? Before this whole debacle i used to think that Game Freak used to be this amazing innovative company, that managed to score an amazing hit and pushed that for all its worth.

However after digging deeper ive kinda begun to question that at all. or Rather ive come to realise that Game Freak is a good example of how a company needs input from other sources for it to not fall into decadence, and that sometimes you need someone to come along and give you a few suggestions. Or a kick in the ass, as they need in Newer times

----GENERATION 1----

Going back all the Way to Red and Green, Nintendo gave what was quite possibly the first Mandate it Ever gave for the Pokemon franchise. This demand? Add PVP to the Game. Thats right, originally Game Freak didnt want to add PVP whatsoever. Given how Game Freak now wishes to fuck over the competitive scene permanently, the fact that they never originally didnt want to have players battle at all should not come as a great suprise.

Withouth this one feature, it seems unlikely pokemon would have been as big a hit as it became. Maybe it would have been added in the Blue and yellow versions and have been in all international releases, but this is by no means certain. Player against players would have come eventually no doubt, but its fully possible that left entierly to their own devices, Game Freak would not have implemented this feature before Gold and Silver.

How big this would have impacted the franchise in both short and long term is impossible to say, but it certainly would have drastically reduced the long term gameplay of the first Game by quite a lot.

however, i should note that im not arguing that Game Freak did not work hard for Red and Green. they did, and they worked on it to the point that right before it was released, Mew was secretly added to the game under Nintendo’s noses. but it sets the Stage for Game Freak often not implimenting the obvious, or not going out of their way to add stuff beyond their original vision of the game.

Setting the stage, we get to the first truely innovative pokemon Game. Pokemon Stadium. And as we’ll see over the course of this retrospective, the Innovative games, is not the ones made by Game Freak themselves, but instead Other companies. In this case Nintendo themselves, Hal Labratory, and its Brilliant leader Satoru Iwata, a man who as we’ll see created half of Pokemon Gold and Silver singlehandedly.

Iwata began his involvement in Pokemon History in Great Style. By taking a look at the pokemon Battle system, and memorising it withouth Code or notes. that might not seem that impressive, but he then went on to create the entire Battle System of Pokemon Stadium exclusively from his own memories, and amazingly enough he would fix things which Game Freak had fucked up in its first outing, like Focus Energy actually working and a number of other smaller mistakes Game Freak had Made being fixed for Stadium.

Stadium Would Then go on to create Pokemon Models that would be used all the way to the third Generation, where the Orre Games would simply ugrade them.

Another innovative feature was to unlock a Game Mode which let you speed up your Game Boy Game while playing it on the stadium. An Amazing tool for anyone who wants to Grind, and a really good reward for anyone who put the effort into unlocking it.

Stadium is by no means a Perfect Game. but it Set the tone for it being the Other companies Nintendo Employes being the truely innovative game makers in regards to pokemon. Iwata in particular being a truly important figure for the second Generation of Pokemon Games.

So after the golden Ticket that Game Freak had in the Original Red and Green, you would expect them to heavily invest them into making sure that when the sequels rolled around, they would have everything in place, a bigger more experienced team, and all the resources they would need to get the Second Games rolling. If you had this expectation, the actual development is actually quite a sad affair.

----GENERATION 2----

Now there was an obstacle which wasnt their fault at all, which was the game boy colour. Given its sudden and unexpected release, Game Freak now had to Port the second generation Games so they would work on both the original Game Boy and the New Version. that would have been a daunting task, but if the development was going well to begin with, they would propbably have pulled it off.

that however was not the case. Long story short, the Games were a complete Mess, they had a hundred ideas, but There seems to have been no hard leader who would wrangle them in line and decide what to cut and not cut. and as the first Release Date which they would delay another year began to creep closer, they had come to a point where they neared the end of the Capacity of the Game Boys Cartridge power to handle. yet they were only halfway through the development. It reads like an eerily similar Development which Anthem would go through around 2 decades later.

So, what happened? why did the Second Pokemon Generation not end up as a dysmal failure? the Answer is Satoru Iwata. at this Point the Brilliant Future president of Nintendo Stepped in to save the day, and he Decompressed the entire work the team had done, to such a degree that they unexpectedly had so much extra space that they decided to just port Kanto over to the newer Games.

To put it bluntly, Game Freak was about to Completely Blow it, and was only saved thanks to the genius of a single man they only had access to thanks to their bosses at nintendo.

in other words, Pure Luck and chance.

Between gold and silver, and the third generation there was Crystal and pokemon Stadium 2. Crystal very much reads like a game where game freak had more breathing room to just impliment the ideas they originally had for Gold and Silver, and while not the most expansive third Game, it certainly was a step in the Right Direction. Stadium 2, was not created by iwara, and feels more like a game where the team from the previous Game just polished up the old stuff and added more pokemon. and there is nothing wrong with that. at least they gave and delivered on the expansion of new pokemon which this update promised. i mean, its not like Game Freak would be forced to cut features from gold and Silver for their next games right?

----GENERATION 3----

Generation 3 was, and probably is the most divisive released generation of Pokemon at the time of this writing. there are a lot of Reasons for this. the first and most obvious reason, was that there was no way to port over all the pokemon from generation 1 and 2, but unlike the newest development in sword and shield, there was actual Mechanical reasons for it, as well as a generally overhaul of the way stats and mechanics worked. More Glaring is the the fact that this was the most difficult set of pokemon games Game Freak ever worked on. which shouldnt be a suprise. it was entierly now hardware after all.

Junichi Masuda famously worked himself to the abslute brink while doing work on the game, and up to the very release date he had nightmares about them completely failing and bombing. this did not happen of course. Ruby and Sapphire were great Games, even if they did miss a lot of pokemon, didnt have the day and night cycles(or at least not as obvious ones) and had completely scrapped the idea of Online capability which Crystal had dipped its toes in.

However commendable how much crunch and work the workstaff over at Game Freak were willing to put themselves through for Generation 3, one cannot help but wonder, if the entire Development hell couldnt simply have been avoided if they had hired maybe a hundred new people to work on the third generation. after all, the limited manpower undoubtedly contributed to the hell that was the development of Gold and Silver. surely they would have learned from those mistakes and prepared for the next round right? what with the billions they had made from all the pokemon sales, they surely could have afforded it. but they did not. in fact, not only did they not learn anything in regards to the limited manpower they had for Gold and Silver, but they would in fact not learn it from this debacle either. nor would they ever.

After the whole not all pokemon being a thing in Ruby and sapphire, the next few games entire role for existing would be to rectify this, and to game freaks credit, they laid the ground work for this from the beginning, by making sure that a national dex existed in the game which would be unlocked if you transferred over older pokemon that didnt exist in hoenn.

Game Freak themselves then did the remakes of Firered and Leafgreen, which are great games in their own right, but as far as innovation goes, i dont think anyone would argue that they were revolutionary in any way.

instead we turn our eye to another Game, Pokemon Colosseum for the Gamecube, the little Lunchbox that almost could. Pokemon Colosseum was made by Genius Sonority, a VERY small company owned by nintendo and The Pokemon Company. as of this writing, they have around 20 employees, dwarfed by even the modest 140-150 employees Game Freak has. they would be the first to actually challenge Game Freak as Makers of pokemon games.

Colosseum is a truly experimental pokemon game, from the way you catch pokemon, to its protagonist, to its actual difficulty. but in my opinion the thing that makes the game so much different than any other game in the franchise is its sense of idendity. its very different than any other game in the series, being in general rather dark in many ways, with a protagonist that used to be a thief which dealt with stolen pokemon, the mechanics of actually having to steal pokemon to save them from what was done to them, and an unfliching difficulty where the game was not afraid of not pulling its punches. all goes to make it a rather unique pokemon experience.

Sadly, Colosseum was not to reach true mainstream success. while it did the job of filling in the pokemon not covered by Either sapphire and ruby, nor Firered and Leafgreen, this limited array of pokemon had its price. while it was certainly not a failure by any means, and sold well, there is no denying that it simply didnt sell better, nor nearly as well as the regular pokemon games. thus Game Freak did not need to take notice of it. never the less, it was the first challenge to Game Freaks status as the main Creators of pokemon Games. it would take a while before a new contender would arise to credibly challenge them for the throne.

after colosseum, there was pokemon emerald and XD:Gale of Darkness, the sequel to collosseum. Emerald very much feels like crystal. A game where Game Freak got to take it a bit easier and add some stuff they had planned for Sapphire and Ruby, but had to scratch. the fact that they did not add day and night cycles, boggles the mind, but it would probably have been to much work. XD was a good game in its own right, but it simply lacked a lot of what made Colusseum work so well. it very much feels more like a mainstream pokemon game on the big screen, instead of a sequel to probably the game with the most unique idendity in the franchise. it also adds very little new gameplay vise.

after xd and emerald there were no other pokemon Games which werent spin offs in their own sub franchise, like Pokemon Mystery dungeon, before generation 4. which for once didnt have any major problems.

----GENERATION 4----

Generation 4 was a turning point in many ways, but not for the better. it was the first Generation which was developed withouth major problems, except a small delay to put the finishing touches on the game. some might say that is a big development mistep, but i would have said that in a vacum, this would be fine. if this had simply been the only time Game Freak had a bit of time problems, there would be nothing to complain about here. however, taken in context of the history of Game Freak as a whole, the major problem that Game Freak refuses to Expand, despite the fact that their situation very much demands they do so, rings very true here.

other than this small delay though, Generation 4 came along with no hickups. it was critically loved, it was a sales success, and in general was just a great sucess. the problem is that by now, Game Freak had discovered a way of doing things, and as far as they were concerned it worked. Diamond and Pearl being the first time they didnt have an existensial crisis developing a new generation. now the good about this is that they generally did a good job. Gen 4 is just good all around.

innovation vise though, its probably the least impressive of all the generations. unlike gen 2 and 3 it didnt introduce any new types, unlike gen 3 it didnt introduce entierly new ways of battling, and unlike generation 5 it didnt make a ridiculous leap in animation, very much sticking to the old way of doing sprites with just a bit more power.

this was in hindsight a very bad thing, because the great success of Gen 4 established a pattern that would repeat itself over time. namely the lack of innovation to things such as story, character, the way you progressed through the game. everything that was in gen 4 in this regard it had all been established in generation 1-3. The gym system was from gen 1. the evil team also dates back to gen 1, with their grandiose plans being a thing established in gen 3. the post game was established in gen 3 mostly and a bit in gen 2. safari zone from gen 1. casino from gen 1. the event pokemon system(probably the worst mechanic in the franchise) had also not changed much at all, with gen 1 being where it became a mix of pokemon you simply could not capture, and those you needed special items to capture.

in this Light gen 4 is where the pattern really established itself. it might not have been the ones who invented anything going foreward, but it was the ones that hammered out how things would work in almost all games going foreward.

after Diamond and pearl, the next non game freak game to try and contend with the mainstream ones was Battle Revolution, which was a failure of such proportions that it killed the very idea of ever there being more colosseum or stadium type games. the Game Freak Dominance stayed supreme.

following Diamond and Pearl, there was the third game, and remakes. pretty much the same story as the previous time, third game being the first two but better, while the remakes are great games in their own right, but not immensly innovative.

----GENERATION 5----

generation 5 was in many ways a geniune innovative attempt at remaking the franchise. it was also a game that unknowlingly or not, tried to establish itself as a type of successor to Colloseum, but which did not quite pull it off. while the game has an actually good story, it still didnt quite manage to divest itself from the regular pokemon formula the way Colosseum did. while the story was better well told, it was still when it came down to it, just the same beats as the two previous generations.

the big difference of course was N, the most compelling villain in the games so far. he managed to give the game a lot of grandiose which the two previous sets of leaders lacked. unfortunatly, him alone was not quite enough to make the story stand out from all the rest. it was however a great sign of innovation on Game Freaks Part, and it goes to show that at this point there was still a spark in actually wanting to improve the games fundamentals.

going along with a better story, there was also the jump to actually moving sprites, which in my opinion was the best the combat of Pokemon has ever looked. just having the sprites move and the camera being a bit more dynamic made the battles far more alive than any previous mainstream game.

not everything can be a sucess though, and as we see in the triple and rotation based battle, there were also some new concepts which simply didnt work nearly as well as intended. There was also the removal of Contests, which had always been a bit problematic, but rather than trying to fix it, Game Freak instead opted to remove it entierly. this fate would later befall the much better implemented mega Evolutions, but the pattern was already there.

after the Failure of battle revolution, no alternative to Game Freak created Games would arise this generation, which mean that the next games in the series would be the only other core RPG games for the generation. Black and White 2.

Much and more can be said of black and White 2. for one thing, it was a very good sequel to a very good game. it built upon the plot of the previous games, sold well, and while not that innovative in gameplay, none of the third games before it was such, so why should this one be critiqued for that when none of they were?

unfortunatly, this streak would not continue with the next games in the franchise. X and Y.

----GENERATION 6----

now i want to make some things clear. i like X and Y. but other than one single element, and a graphical update, it was probably the generation with the least innovation in story, character, plot and general idendity.

the biggest change was of course Mega Evolution, probably the biggest and best change since double battles. it was a game play mechanic which completely altered the way the game played, both in singles and doubles, as well as breathing new life into many old pokemon.

other than that, there was the jump to full 3d, which was okay, and the game looked nice, as well as being the first game to let you customize your trainer(though not to insane degrees, generally only clothes, hairstyles and color) made the game look far better overall(though i still prefere gen 5′s more dynamic combat.

unfortunatly, that is where the innovation ends. because pretty much everything else is pretty much rehash of older games.

the evil team is as generic as possible. the main villain is the same as gen 3′s villains, just with a different solution. the plot is pretty much the same as gen 3 and 4. the league mechanics arent different at all from what had come before. the Game traded the 2 interesting rivals from gen 5 for a whole entourage of generic characters who all supposedly served as your rival. the only truly interesting part of the plot was AZ, a character that was criminally underused, despite a really interesting backstory.

all in all, despite a huge change in gameplay generation 6 is probably as “standard” a pokemon game as there has ever been. following afte X and Y, there would be no third version, a first in pokemon(if one counts white and black 2) but there would be remakes, which as ive said about its predessesors, were good games in their own right, but not terribly innovative(other than having better flying than any game that came before it.). after that however, there were no other major games until the seventh generation.

----GENERATION 7 and Onwards----

there is so much good to say about generation 7 that im generally not gonna delve into it here. what i will focus on, is that what made generation 7 so innovative, was that it pretty much just took the standard pokemon guidebook, and threw it out the window, for better or worse. this has lead to a game that is truely different than the previous games, but also not quite a true successor to them. this is probably best shown in that generation 8 didnt want to follow up on the direction 7 put foreward, and instead went back to the older style.

this is not to say that generation 8 was bad by any means, but that it was never going to be the next step. it was an experiment to see how far you could stretch the boundary of the mainstream pokemon games away fromt he standard, and while it had elements that should have carried on over, it was never gonna be the definite way pokemon games would go foreward.

so after such a drastic change of pace, we only have to ask one simple question. WHAT. THE. HELL. HAPPENED?

after Sun and moon was released, the follow up was Ultra sun and moon, which was just the previous game with slight changes. it was for all intents and purposes a reskin. no third version even comes close to how much a cash grab it was.

so what the hell happened after the release of sun and moon? two words. Pokemon GO.

Pokemon Go was the first real challenge to Game Freaks exclusivity over the mainstream Pokemon RPG experience since colosseum way over a decade ago, and to say it was a bit more successful, would be like saying the mongol empire killed a few people.

Pokemon GO, or rather the way Game Freak has reacted to it, completely changed the way the pokemon franchsie would go foreward. At the time of this Writing, Pokemon GO is responsible for around 5% of the entire pokemon franchise earnings. it is to put it simply, a massive and insane success.

which is what has lead to a massive problem for Game Freak, as they have come to the rather disturbing conclusion that they can be replaced. the success of Pokemon GO has killed the myth that Pokemon Needs game freak to succed going foreward, and the stark realisation that there is literarly nothign stopping nintendo and the Pokemon Company from handing the franchise over to the hands of some other team.

the ownership of pokemon is a complicated mess between nintendo, Creatures INC, the pokemon Company and Game Freak, but the base line, is that nintendo owns it. they can hand over the franchise to any company they want if they so desire.

this is why when the time came for a sequel to sun and moon, the absolute cheapest alternative was taken. because Game Freak needed to move on to other projects.

One would think that this would mean that they would pump all their effort into making the newest Pokemon Games. alas, that is not the case, instead they sent the A Team of Game Freak over to work at an entierly new Game called The Town. this is an insane move, as they are at a critical point in regards to pokemon games going foreward. but when taken from Game Freaks point of view it makes sense. as they are desperate to prove to nintendo that they can in fact make other games than pokemon, and that even if they dont get to make more of them, they are still a valuable company under their umbrella.

again, from a purely business perspective this makes sense. from every other perspective its insane. having an already miniscule manpower pool to draw from, Game Freak cannot afford to majorly split their resources for any single major release. yet that is exactly what they are doing.

Every bad decision taken by game freak in regards to Sword and Shield, every corner cut, every single decision, is to make this game as playable as it can be, with the miniscule amount of probably 70 or so people working on it. hence the lackluster animation, primitive looking trees, load times, the cutting of around 60% of the total amount of pokemon from previous games, the removal of mega evolutions in favor of the much simplier Dynamax.

all to get this game out knowing from experience that as long as its a standard Pokemon Game it will probably be a great success.

this hole however, is entierly their own fault. the one big release a year, could easily have been made drastically easier, if they hired a hundred people and made them exclusively devoted to the extra releases while Game Freak as a whole could focus exclusively on their big games. instead, they dug in their heels, and refused to expand on their business, even though it was clear all the way back in generation 2, that change needed to happen. that their current way of doing things simply didnt work.

the rest of the industry changed to cope with the changing market. some embraced DLC, some decided that mmo style was the only way to go, Even Nintendo themselves is finally embracing the concept of DLC, Patches, online multiplayer in large scale and so on.

Game Freak however is still operating like its the early 1990′s and they are still a small studio with no big demands on them, which they can handle on their own. they purposefully ignored the lessons that they should have learned in generation 2 and 3, namely that they needed to expand and build better infrastructure. instead they have stubbornly refused to change, until now when they fully willing to cleave their own franchise into pieces, when simply embracing the concept of a Patch or Two would have solved all their problems.

#pokemon #game freak #stagnation #gen 1 #gen 2 #gen 3 #gen 4 #gen 5 #gen 6 #gen 7 #gen 8 #pokemon sword and shield #sword and shield #dexcut #dex cut

50 notes · View notes

unproduciblesmackdown · 4 years

Note

let's see those Prime Numbers for the ask meme

2) favorite albums?

well i was Ready for kesha’s album Warrior to come out in iiii think it was the end of 2012 or early 2013?? i snuck out to that tour in dc that summer also. totally solid album and it was fun to have something so fun during a totally Not Fun period lol. i was also pretty into owl city at the exact same time lmao, that’s Blatantly for when you’re depressed lol...and i also eventually saw that guy on tour when a new album came out in 2015, and that was fun too, and was Enjoying Myself a factor in the tipping point of “ah jeez i gots 2 get outta here” that i had in the next month? maybe! and uhhh i listened a lot to the phoenix te amo album. that one wasnt tied to anything at all but i have heard it So much. super short and also rock solid and relistenable. and then here we are and the bmc obcr is a gift to the world b/c a) it exists and b) Cuz It All Slaps and c) it’s so fun to either sing or dance along, or cry along if it’s the agtikbi reprise and d) lgw... and e) all the eternal, well-mixed wroland vocals

3) favorite memes?

oh god lmao idk......real earlier 10s stuff was the I Say Hey he-man meme, and the “that really rustles my jimmies” meme which was real underrated......there’s been plenty of Memes where i’ve been like “this one is funny to me Every Time” but of course now looking back on it it’s like. what’s a meme??? Vine

(skipping 5 & 11 cuz that’s the Entirety of someone else’s ask and i don’t wanna just have to scrap theirs completely and i’ll get to it next!!)

11) favorite fanarts?

you know what, there’s continuously been a ton of amazing fanart where i’m like, i’m so glad i’m seeing this, & this is Artistic Fuel, and marge simpson anime has really been just this Standout Experience lmao like......idk for as Inspiring as it is, there’s only a couple things i’ve drawn that are Directly inspired, but i just flip for it all the time and like, it’s supremely expressive and like, comics that aren’t chronological but more like a Collage Of a Moment / Concept which i think is super cool and also i love when stuff reminds me that it doesn’t have to look ~super cleaned up~ to look great.

13) favorite people you know?

oh god this one really got out of control lol i started like, talking about everyone ever from this past decade. so for Convenience i’m interpreting this as “people *i* know, but they don’t know me” so that i can cheat and say will roland, voted person of the year 2019. by extension, essential supporting crew who helped us reach this point, like john simpkins or joe iconis. leave it at that!! it’s 5am and you know i’m not lying. who knew where going “wow, This guy” in late 2018 would have so much Value.

17) a fandom you wish more people were in/you had more people to talk to about?

oof hmm.......amnesia tdd didn’t really have a “fandom” even though it obviously got a lot of attention, it’dve been fun if it had though lol. it’s tricky to answer this one cuz i always prefer like, smaller fandoms and/or finding the Niche or some other way of just like, interacting with a small corner of things, so i’m never like wow god damn wish i’d been absolutely in the thick of it with this thing. i’ve been in Corners n Niches and it’s been fine by me, really

19) a fandom that you had the best time in?

HMM lol.........marble hornets sure was fun but like, a lot of that was just the content itself and not necessarily The Fan Experience, tho i sure got a lot out of it in a ton of ways. i mean tbh that’s true of each thing i’ve really Gotten Into majorly, i go hard af and then walk out the other side with these #connections or #experiences like whoa where’d these come from lol!! but really like, overall, i’m probably having the best time right now. the “fandom” is basically just our agenda lmao but like i said i’m always having the best time when it’s a pretty niche deal, And the sheer variety of Contents n Characters to draw from here is super nice, and the fact that it’s like, oh yeah and i’m finally recognizing this should’ve-been-obvious entire Passionne i’ve had since always, and that’s great too, and like, also just having the Variety Of Live / Current Unfoldings that go down.....like, everyone havin fun with the Joe Iconis Xmas Xtrav was entirely great. and just the Engagement level is basically the best, cuz like there’s the times where maybe i’ll get a zillion notes and that’s definitely fun in its own way but i always enjoy just the way smaller amount of ppl who are Particularly Enthusiastic, and like, there’s times where like, maybe i’m *technically* in this larger circle of ppl but like, totally more of like a Tangent or peripheral to that circle or whatever lol........this feels like a really solid balance of like, being sorta in this orbit of people in a chill way, but also definitely the direct interactions Existing, which is always important lol but hasn’t always been a constant throughout my Fandom Experiences at all

23) who were you at the beginning of this decade?

2009-2010 was a real distinct year lol i was in my second year of college in the middle of my teens, when i’d hardly really been getting to Explore My Interests Freely up to that point and still wasn’t, but all of a sudden it’s like goddamn i have to figure out my major???? and i’m like, obviously in the middle of only just now Really getting to figure out my identity in this deeper and more genuine way, thanks to being lucky enough to Live On Campus and be away from home like, 2/3 of the year, but i was just like, oh god i’m in Stress Hell now all the time cuz like. i’m trying to figure out my whole thing and what my ~Career~ should be and i just have no idea but am like, trying super hard all the time lol it was not successful and i was just really stressed about it all the time. i was def quieter back then.....pretty lonely at the time, i did not get into mh and gain the presence of any Online Friends until late 2010, and i hadn’t yet been sort of accepted by a small faction of theatre people via my roommate’s connections.....i wasn’t at all Out yet, and was def In Progress of figuring it all out.....i didn’t have nearly the Self-Esteem i have now lmao, it was Not a great time and in a lot of ways ‘09-’10 was the start of a downturn into Worse Than Usual Times, though in Other ways it was definitely an upturn lol like. the latter related to stuff that was important to me / who i am, the former tied to the situations i was in and the godawful morale that resulted

29) a time when the worst case scenario happened but you pulled through?

well by the end of 2012 i had my Wrath Parent deluxe mad at me big time, AND i was stuck at home all of thee time with that (not at all hours but. every day.) it was terrible!!! tf was going on in 2013, cuz that shit was definitely like, a gross blur of a lot of indistinct misery. and then, relatedly, when it was so shitty in 2015 that i was like fantastic, i am so officially sick of this i’m outta here. i revisited some Misery Posts from that period lately for someone stranger on twitter’s project or something, and boy i was having a bad time Summer Of ‘15 lol, things not getting better at home And a job that was so shitty that it was like..................bye. lol. and then i spent a year living out of a minivan. which was real lucky in ways b/c like. infinitely better than if i had not had that minivan. and when that broke down i was also then lucky enough to have this friend who was relatively nearby who’d also been willing to just like, set me up to Not have to ask the lgbt center where that trans-friendly forest zone a couple cities over was. nothing as dramatic as it could’ve been, fortunately

31) a time you were scared?

hmmm when leaving The Parents Home overnight, that was intimidating. bit of completely jumping into the unknown there, and also like, when you spend your lifetime assuming that Someone’s Arbitrary Wrath will be uponst you always, it’s hard to shake that sense of dread and doom, like ah jeez i am really potentially bringing hell on myself here........and like i mentioned with Start Of The Decade, there was just a ton of fear there all the time lol, trying to figure out virtually overnight The Whole Of Who I Am And What I Want when i’d only just even gotten to start......also i wanna say i maybe came out in 2011?? and i sort of also felt obligated to come out to my parents also (plus i think i was giving them like, one last chance to surprise me and be decent and kind of Grow Up themselves even tho i was the like, 16 y.o.) which yknow, kids you do not have to come out to anyone at all. someone was talking the other day abt how they didn’t think lgbtq “discourse” had evolved as much as you’d hope over the past decade, but idk about that, it's only a little bit of a wildly complex topic, and for starters Online Trans “Discourse” of a decade back was wayyyyyy in a vastly different place than it is now, leaps and strides really. so the way to ~really~ do it was presented kind of more rigidly i think. anyways i did it via email and was incredibly stressed to even open the reply a couple days later lol......which ended up being really weird and vague, and then there was a phone call where no one brought it up, and the only result was increased ire and resentment :( ........and then there was still like, cops encounters! near or not-as-bad-as-they-could’ve-been vehicular collisions! but tbh generally my reaction to the latter was underwhelming, except for one particular time when i was a passenger and also tense af for the rest of the ride. that’s it for Immediate fear really lol......oh wait one time i was at this decent sized Convention Panel Event and when i’m nervous i can Only talk more (it’s possible!!) and i snuck into line for the q&a and Right when i got to the mic (intimidating) they were like oop we’re low on time, lightning round!! :’] that was obviously more just a crapton of l’anxiete

37) a fashion that fell out of style that you wish would make a resurgence?

were Gladiator sandals this decade? the strappy deals that like, went up the ankles / calves? that was in fashion for a year or two and i’m into it. i like sandals and that kind of drama

41) something you learned a lot that not a lot of other people might know about?

i don’t know that i learned way a lot of anything that’s real in-depth knowledge and niche lore.........i have learned Nothing

43) an important relationship (of any kind) you had?

i had???? lmao well either way let’s say current relationships count and like, pretty much everyone in my Sphere i value a lot! i never like, have or have had a ~close~ ring of ppl around me lol like i thought it was lucky if i talked to someone Every Day (and not at all the Usual thing) and now it’s more likely that i talk to two people every day and maybe that sounds sarcastic but it’s not at all lol. i know my social stats aren’t impressive but i so appreciate what i get to enjoy and have. and other Connections might be way more like, we are friendly acquaintances, we talk on rare occasions, we haven’t talked at all in ages, we talk but only to trade cute pics of cats, Etc etc, but i seriously do appreciate all of everyone who’s cool who i get to interact with in any way and like, be in each other’s spheres and Not just like, absolutely on nobody’s radar. also obviously soph you are here in that list in case i wasn’t implying it good enough lol it is 5am and god knows deciphering what i say at any time can be its own challenge.....ur Epic Highs and Lows of bmc 3.0 is so good lmao

#hell yeah tysm now also i should go for Passing Outs #(where you pass out like knocking out)#thank you Three Other Asks i see and appreciate it as well #oh wait shit four!!!#lol #it's 5:20am bed time bitch all day hit the hay #i forget what i say here i've been on and off doing whatever for the past 5 hrs obviously lmao #nothingunrealistic1

2 notes · View notes

theatreakasuna-store · 5 years

Photo

Given the massive role Komushi ( his death ) played in shaping Sasori, arguably the reason Sasori began & became obsessed with human puppets as opposed to the prosthetics he had started with, it’s wild the sheer lack of him in the fandom related to Sasori

But anyway points I don’ t think I’ve gone over enough in my hc about Sasori & his pre-Akatsuki relationships.

Komushi was the first person Sasori tried to “ repair ” by bonding his medical knowledge with puppetry. At the time this was unheard of & it was something Sasori had been spending a lot of his free time working on. When Komushi lost his arm Sasori saw the perfect opportunity to take his studies for a test run. This wasn’t approved by the council but Komushi was naturally extremely supportive of it & Sasori simply couldn’t see anything wrong with trying as it would ultimately help Komushi who had lost his arm. They did this together & Chiyo was shocked by it because, yes, it had worked. The only problem was Sasori didn’t have approval to do it. He did it without permission, on his own, in his workshop with the only other person approving of it beside himself being Komushi which neither of them had the authority to decide.

Keep in mind please that Komushi & Sasori were both literal children. At this time Sasori was AT MOST 13 years old & Komushi the same. The dangers of Komushi having a prosthetic arm filled with poison missed them both which what lead to the extreme tragedy. Though Sasori was incredibly intelligent & far-seeing he over looked Komushi’s clumsy nature in the hopes of helping him improve as a shinobi with a powerful prosthetic arm. This was one of those moments where sentiment overshadowed logic.

Initially however this was a great success. Chiyo was impressed & so was Komushi’s mother who was over-joyed that Sasori had saved Komushi from a difficult life of trying to adapt with a missing limb.

Had Koumshi had lived longer all four of them planned to take this to the council so these powerful prosthetic limbs could become a regular part of Suna’s medical & military arsenal. Koumshi however accidentally poisoned himself with the arm setting off a perfect storm of events that lead to Sasori becoming obsessed with human puppets.

This is also another layer of the disconnect that built up between him & Chiyo & Sasori’s uncertainty to her feelings toward him. In a way, you see, Chiyo, as a member of the council had to shall we say investigate Sasori. Not only that but as a human being when something happens & you cant fix it you naturally look for answers & ask questions & even look for some place to throw blame so on top of this again I’m sure there was an expression of disappointment upon Komushi’s death given Sasori wasn’t there & he may have been the only one who stood a chance of saving him.

Although the reality of this is slim. Even if Sasori had been there Sasori has explained himself the antidote was extremely complex & even he had difficulties with it. Also take into account that when Kankuro was poisoned it was a minor scratch & caused days of suffering, Komushi surely directly ingested much more than a drop worth. In fact it seemed to have been enough to erode his skin & from what we understand Komushi died after maybe only an hour or so. It wasn’t long enough for Sasori to even arrive. By the time Sasori got the Komushi was dead.

ANOTHER important thing to note was that with his dying breaths Komushi begged Chiyo not to let Sasori be blamed for what happened. I think obviously these last wishes went unfulfilled because of course Sasori came under investigation. This was terribly worsened by the fact Sasori had taken his body & made him into a puppet. I wouldn’t say this was in any way “planned” & thats why we have the gut wrenching scene of Komushi’s mother’s anguished screams, her clinging to Sasori & begging that he fix Komsushi, that if he could fix his arm then surely he could fix his body too.

This caused a bunch of outstanding issues. One was a final break in Sasori’s sanity, a final solidification of Sasori’s disillusion with the worth of human life & its fragility, strongly followed by contempt for his village & their practises & another being Sasori’s research beginning to focus on human puppets as a result. At some point here Sasori realised how much potential human puppetry had, the kind of things he could harness & unlock with it. He was driven to learn more.

In the meantime the council wanted to hold Sasori entirely accountable for Koumshi’s death & further punished for the abomination of coveting his body into that of a puppet. Chiyo was the main force behind stopping this. As a member & as someone present for these events Chiyo was able to stand in Sasori’s favour. This was however kept pretty hush-hush, as was the entire incident outside of the council & the Kazekage. Sasori didn’t even know how hard Chiyo went to prevent a punishment from befalling him. Chiyo’s relationship with Komushi’s mother was also severely damaged as a result such she had to stand against her to protect Sasori.

Most of what Sasori knew however was that the higher ups of his village had the audacity to be pretty pissed off with him & to think he was worthy of blame. He was also under the impression Chiyo felt similarly based on the rift that had already formed between them & the fact Chiyo took it upon herself to investigate him.

Sometime in all this nonsense Chiyo put herself to work & began developing a Jutsu that would allow one to transfer their own life into that of a puppet. Later she told Sasori she created this jutsu for him which Sasori was naturally shocked by. I always found this interesting because at the time naturally one would assume that what Chiyo meant by this was that she wanted to give life to Sasori’s parent puppets however this was always odd because there was two of them & one of her & I always wondered how that would have worked.

However now I really don’t think that Chiyo developed this jutsu with “reanimating” Sasori’s parents in mind. Only one puppet can be brought to life with one life. I think the reason Chiyo made this was for Komushi. Reasoning that if she brought back Komushi all this would end. However these events progressed far too fast & a complete lack of communication & understanding on all ends only made things so much worse therefore Chiyo could not save Komushi or Sasori.

Sasori’s need to continue researching human puppets put him constantly in an awkward position as the council um’ed & er’ed about whether it was allowable. It teetered with no official stance other than “we dont like this” due to the fact this was a time of war & was pushing Suna to its limits & though this was gruesome & inhumane they also had to take into account the advantage of human puppets & Sasori’s research as a whole. However Sasori was in hot water again with Hiruko’s death. I detailed before that Hiruko was not a native sand shinobi, he was from a neighbouring allied village who was wounded on the battlefield & brought to Suna, the nearest & most equipped village to treat him. The problem was however that Hiurko mysteriously died & when he did Sasori was fast to claim his body for research materials. This lead to the belief that Sasori had killed him to supply himself with a new test subject perse & the fact is this time its actually true. Sasori was tasked with helping Hiurko get back to health as he was part of Suna’s medical team along with Chiyo ( Side headcanon that pretty much all Suna’s puppet ninjas doubled as med nins. Reason being puppeteers & med ninjs functioned similar on the battle field so it made sense to combine them & Chiyo had used her medical skill to introduce poisons to puppets ages prior. ) however the damage done to Sasori & his regard for human lives was piratically irreparable at this point. Sasori’s obsession had set in & he could never go back to being a medical ninja again. He could not go back to ‘saving lives’ when he had an overwhelming sense of that being pointless. Hiruko died because Sasori wouldn’t put in effort to save anyone knowing that everyone dies sooner or later despite his best efforts. So he figured Hiruko could battle forever as a human puppet. A needed resource. This time though the council couldn't ignore it or excuse it. They believed Sasori had truly taken a life to supplement his research & they feared he would begin doing this with innocent Sunagakure citizens & the risk was too high, particularly as Sasori’s behaviour had become too strange to ignore. He had already became unruly & defiant & completely focused on his puppets. This time Chiyo had to side with the council & the Kazekage against Sasori. Thats when Sasori left.

IN GENERAL, the point I’m trying to make here was that Koumshi is SO MUCH more important to Sasori’s story then I’ve ever seen him given credit for. I also wanted to confront the “impression” that Koumshi’s death was a planned act on Sasori’s behalf bc being real when I watched that ep when it first came out I was a bit confused as to how to interpret events as well. It does seem to heavily suggest this was a purposeful act & I might have thought that too if I only had that episode of Sasori’s history alone to go with. However when I blend it to the other things we know about Sasori I think rather the suggestion of it being planned was suppose to indicate that this is how everyone else interpreted Sasori’s actions. Add that with all Chiyo’s guilt about everything being her fault & their initial interactions leading to Sasori’s death, with Sasoris absolute hatred toward his village.

Sasori was a stoic of an extreme degree. Chiyo even explained to Sakura when she criticised him that none of this was his fault, that all the fault lied with her & the sand village. She then later went on to confirm that perhaps Sasori wasnt entirely the emotionless monster he allowed & helped himself to be portrayed as. He allowed himself to take the last hit that saved them both.

#⊰ ° ⧗◞ HEADCANONS ⊱#no one:#me again with all this shit: :)#long post

11 notes · View notes

devilgem-archive · 5 years

Note

Can we hear more about the swap au?

yes absolutely!!!i got some basic info for the ones with distinct roles (most of which are based off personal hcs ive conjured in chats) the rest will come as soon as i have concrete stories for them!!

the story revolves around angel, an ex-mobster slash p*rn star, who decides to abandon his vices to better himself and those around him. because he lacks a higher status in hell’s society, he has a harder time gathering funds and support, so his hotel is a lot more run down compared to canon charlie’s. many dub him as a “nobody trying to be somebody”

ANGEL DUST

swaps with charlie

gay trans man

grew up in a mob family during the 30s-40s. his relationship with his family remains difficult

he’s a lot more optimistic here, still values innocence and all the littlest things that make the world go ‘round. he’s still angel dust tho,therefore has moments where he’s just a plain jackass

continued his line of Shady Work in the afterlife for survival. retired decades later to pursue his Dream Project in running a rehabilitation center in the form of a hotel. the public was baffled at his choice to step down from crime, why give up all of that for…this? is he stupid? whatever respect they held for him was snuffed out quickly and angel became a laughing stock

is very much aware of the doubts, even those of his friends’ and frankly…it stings. tries to mask it with sunshine and rainbows

still struggles with addictions + suffers from episodes of alcohol withdrawal himself. despite everything he keeps pushing forward- lowkey has a habit of brushing off his own problems in favor of others’

CHERRI BOMB

swaps with vaggie

trans lesbian

was an orphan in life, turned to crime as a bomb specialist as she grew

had canon!cherri’s personality and appearance up until angel made his ambitions known; she chopped her hair short and sports a more formal fashion to honor his new passion

is best friends with angel and looks up to him like a father. while she does offer her best support, she is not without doubts regarding the hotel’s success. not that she’d outright say it ofc

despite her own concerns, she wont hesitate to fuck up anyone who insults or otherwise jeopardizes angel’s hotel

she jokingly suggested angel turn to the princess of hell for assistance…only for the man himself to take it as serious advice. angel dust is a synonym for absolutely fucking stupit

CHARLIE

swaps with angel

bi trans girl

the princess of hell. an absolute bratty delinquent who loves using her status to get what she wants– or get away with the trouble she stirred up

only cared about her status, wealth and vaggie before the hotel.

she’s the carlyle to angel’s barnum

angel sought her out for support–though she initially snorted at the very idea of a rehabilitation center in hell,she found herself begrudgingly funding the hotel. even checked in as the very first patient, fun for the entire family huh.

she truly has a heart of gold beneath the hardass exterior and it gradually shines through the more time she spends at the hotel

VAGGIE

swaps with cherri

lesbian + demigirl

is charlie’s girlfriend and partner in crime. together, theyre ur typical Mean Girls that enjoy making snide remarks at the expense of others

has an arsenal of knifes and spears she uses to win turf wars and lovingly defend her still-ditzy gf from danger.

is more cool and collected- gotta do what it takes to come out the winner! only loses her temper when her loved ones are threatened/insulted

retains a difficult relationship with angel

only checked into the hotel, which she is skeptical of, to keep charlie company. and to see how fast this dump falls apart lmao

just like charlie, she gradually softens up and befriends the others

ALASTOR

swaps with husk

pan/ace trans man

he is biracial

was an ex-radio host that succumbed to the great depression in Every sense of the word. no really. alastor is a disaster

he pushed away his friends and family and loyal fans that reached out in support, destroying whatever positive relationship he had left. who needs people when you got booze!

is a complete shut in. dont talk to him, do not even look at him.begone thot. remained stubborn at the idea of opening up, even in a place as disgustingly positive as angel’s hotel

1000/10 capable of ripping your guts out if you test him

still enjoys the good thrill of hunting deer every now and then. probably the one thing that makes him feel anything

hates hate HATES the permasmile with every ounce of his being. he wouldn’t be wearing a smile if frowning wasnt so damn painful

SIR PENTIOUS

swaps with katie

bi trans man w a pref for Wahmen

he was a well-known journalist in the 1800s.

in hell, he adapted well enough to have his own “picture news show”

vocally, he isn’t very pleasing to listen to, but! he has a knack for grabbing the most sensational stories to keep the attention of his audience unwavered

has an ego the size of jupiter

is completely uninterested in anything that doesnt give his rep a boost

enjoys sciencey stuff and reviews the latest trends/memes on occasion

mocking the hell out of angel and his stoopid hotel is his second hobby

he has ‘friends’ but rarely, if ever, treats them well

THE EGGBOIS

swap with tom

they all hate penti

penti still enjoys pushing them around. sometimes would use them as anger/stress-relievers

i do not have a lot for them

#askies #anon #headcanons #trash aus #hazbin hotel #hazbinswap au

48 notes · View notes

xaz-fr · 5 years

Photo

I’ll edit links for previous chapters later but you know how Tumblr feelse about links but they're all in the zs tag

Set in a fantasy world of the semi socialist society Fey Alliance with magic, dick head dragon riders, benevolent necromancers, and even bigger dick head gods of mischief. The Zealous Servant is the story about a guy named Spayar who, has to keep his crown prince of a bff from being murdered by his entire family by murdering them first. Though Spayar just wants to take a nap and find a cute boy to kiss and not have to worry about his corpse potentially being dragged through the street after a war. Better win that shit then.

I will only ping this particular list once and if you want to be pinged for future posts a like or reblog will get you on the next pinglist. Reblogs (especially with a dumb comment but not required) are way more appreciated as it allows other people to see the work

@deadpool-scar-bro @golden-lionsnake @unburdened-billy @anonymouseyesamongwalls @knifox @massdestructionn @leprechaunsean @a-gay-lotus

The alternate name for this chapter is “spayar gets roasted by his entire family". Also gods Tassa is so good. I love herrrrrrr

Despite the cold sky outside Spayar could smell the warm spices of his mother’s cooking from downstairs. He kept glancing out his window at the Taldradin, the big clock tower, to keep an eye on the time. He had a meeting after dinner but before fifths and the time was approaching. He didn't want to miss it. While waiting for the right time to leave Spayar was writing in a notebook what his birds had told him in short hand, just for reference.

From downstairs he heard his mother give an exclamation and the excited sound of her voice but not what was being said. Maybe one of her friends was visiting. Spayar only had a dozen or so Dirinian aunties who were immigrants like his parents. But the sound didn't escalate like he expected from a group of Dirinians showing up to talk. So maybe a friend of his siblings.

His door opened without knocking. “Knock before you just open my door Duren- Von,” he petered out when he saw it wasn't his brother come to bother him for riding lessons again.

“Well then don't leave your door unlocked,” Von said with a grin.

“You’re back.” He was wearing his rain coat but it was dry meaning it wasn't raining or he was showing off.

“Yes, for the time being,” he closed the door and stood against it.

“Good news from Maker’s End?” Spayar closed his notebook and quickly wiped off his quill.

“A bit.”

“Tassa said you had success in Alderin,” he said.

“I did,” he beamed at Spayar. Gods he hated Von sometimes when his smile was like a beam of sunlight in fall.

Von made a hand motion by his head indicating Spayar should close the weave on his door. Von couldn't do it himself. He wasn't a weaver like Spayar and Tassa. His magic was faster and more immediate, his weaves being created and dissipating in seconds as a spell rather than a proper weave that lingered. “Oh, so good news,” and he got up to properly close the weave. The room and light grew muted, the view of the Taldradin seemed almost fogged through the glass.

“I have X’vazior’s full support,” Von bursted as soon as the weave coalesced.

“That’s good. But I don't know what fool man would pass up such a promotion.” Spayar sat back down at his desk. “Tell me you made friends in Maker’s End as well.”

“Nothing concrete,” Von grimaced. “It’s difficult to get makers to pick sides.”

“Unfortunate but true,” Spayar frowned even as he nodded. Historically most makers in the south fled to Gorum specifically to avoid being prodded into making instruments of war during a Conflict. One could always count on Gorum to remain neutral and thus untouchable in a Conflict. “But something?”

“Just talk mostly. Most everyone is too busy to talk to the fifth royal child,” he complained.

“But you got X'vazior,” Spayar said helpfully.

“Yes. I sent Tassa along after the first day so we could talk more. I think Tassa gave him the impression I'd kill him if he didn't join me.”

“You would have,” was all Spayar said.

“Yeah but-

“A praetor who knows you're weak is a card you don't want in your hand, Von,” he said.

“I know but…” he rubbed his mouth and it was distracting. “I don't want to be like my great grandfather. He threatened anyone who didn't side with him both before and after his Conflict and basically killed a child of every noble house of everyone who purposefully sided with his brothers. He didn't last, Spayar.”

“And princes who are afraid to make threats to get what they need don't either,” Spayar said. He hadn't forgotten the conversation he and Tassa had had a week ago about Von being too soft, too nice.

Von sighed. “Do you have any information for me?”

“Teldin is living in the Palace now.”

“Sakoth,” Von cursed.

“That’s about how I felt when I found out too,” Spayar said. “Fresh bread is also nearly half a bronze, it's almost impossible to get strawberry bushels and unless you know a guy it's impossible to get flour. It's getting scooped up by all the bakeries around the city.”

“Meat? X'vazior told me it's being taxed higher than salt in Alderin,” Von said.

“Birds maybe. I haven't heard of or seen anyone selling large livestock since I've come back from serving my time.”

“What’s your mother making for fifths?” Von asked.

“Goose? I think?”

“Hmmm…”

“You aren't even thinking about the food shortage now,” Spayar accused him but was smiling.

“What can I say? I like goose,” Von whined. “And it smelled so good. I might have to stay.”

Still smiling Spayar rolled his eyes. “To say it's getting worse as Asurala goes on would not be an understatement,” Spayar said. “Especially since no one likes going out in the rain and people don't want to travel the Lances.”

“Yes. I saw the state of them. I don't blame them.” The Westerlance had been easily traveled by them because they were on horseback but the potholes and ill repaired stone roads would make getting a cart anywhere difficult.

“I think most ranchers are waiting either for prices to go up for their livestock to sell or to hopefully wait out the bad winter with the stock they have now.”

“Neither of which is good,” Von nodded in agreement. “Is my mother in the city?”

“Yes.”

“Oh she's a sakoth,” Von folded his arms. “Last thing we need is everyone here. Tallasala is throwing her naming day party here too!”

“Yes. I'm aware.”

“Teldin, Tallasala, our mother, and I are all going to be in and around Assarus this month. This is-

“A terrible idea?”

“To say the least!”

“What did you and X'vazior talk about?”

“Mostly pleasantries. He told me he'd be able to rally the Second to me without much of a fuss. I gave him that letter Helida gave to me for him. While I was there he drafted one and had a courier rush it up to the Garden. I promised him food.”

“Easier said than done.”

“The treasury is not empty,” Von said. “If Tallasala can get mother to give her money for her stupid naming day party than I can come up with a reason I need money. I did tell him it may take time.”

“Yes… about that,” Spayar said slowly. Von cocked his head at him and Spayar told him about DiSol and the deal he'd made with the Adoshade and about Mali.

Von didn't even remark on it. “Have you gotten word back from Sinco at all yet?”

“No but I told him that he had anything to share he was to message me immediately and I'd pay for the postage to have it brought by wyrm.”

Von rubbed his face with both hands. “Spayar,” he sighed. Spayar hummed at him curiously. “Can your parents just adopt me instead?”

Spayar laughed. “While I'm sure my mother would be thrilled to have another son that doesn't detract from you being a Le’Acard. There's no getting out of that.”

“Yes,” Von said softly.

Outside the Taldradin gave a muffled tolling of the time. “I need to go,” Spayar got up.

“Where are you going?” Von asked but was specifically blocking the door.

“I have a meeting with the new thief lord, the Pale Cross.”

“We weren't done talking.”

“I'll be back.”

“I'm leaving after fifths. I shouldn't stay in the city.”

“Where are you going now?”

“Remember I said back in the west I said I wanted the Drake too?”

“And I told you you were insane but go on,” Spayar said.

“I’m going to the Wyrd.”

“Are you really going to court the Wyrm Lord?” Spayar asked, still trying to get out the door but Von wasnt letting him.

“A little,” Von said. “Mostly I want a personal flighter.”

Spayar’s brows furrowed a little then clarity came to him. “I don't like that guy,” Spayar said.

“You just don't because he and Tassa and insufferable,” Von reminded him quickly. “You know he's nice.”

“Yeah but he's so annoying,” Spayar complained.

“I want you to come with me to the Wyrd,” Von finally got to the point.

“Do I have a choice?”

“Would you feel better about saying yes if I said you did?”

“Fine,” Spayar sighed. “After Asümcest. I promised my siblings I'd take them,” he said before Von could argue.

“Fine. I'll have to change the day of our flight but fine.”

“Which port are we leaving from?”

“The one in Sinoulin.”

“Down there? Why?”

“Because my family doesn't go there and the less people who know I'm taking a wyrm out with my d'aelar the better.”

“I guess. Fine. Tell me the time before you leave after fifths but I really do have to go. Paper lord he might be but you don't keep men who kill for their position waiting.”

“What about me?” Von complained.

Spayar disconnected the weave. Light, sound, and smell rushed back into the space. He opened the door and gently pushed Von out with just two fingers on his chest. “When you finish the Conflict I'll give you more priority too,” he said nicely.

“I’m your domalim, I should always get priory,” Von whined.

Spayar just grinned a little. “I’ll see you for fifths. Don't mess up my bed,” and left Von in the doorway. He didn't need to turn to know Von was grumpily standing there with his arms folded. He mostly didn't look because he knew it would be cute and he didn't need that sort of distraction.

—

It had started to rain while Tassa stood outside King’s Casket in Cat’s Cradle waiting for Spayar. King was spelled the Fed way so everyone knew it was a turn of phrase. There were no kings in the Alliance, not in their tongue at least. To fight against the boredom of waiting under the awning outside the bar she was casually smoking a cigarello of posh, a native central Alliance plant smoked when you wanted to freshen the breath after a long day or you wanted the mouth stimulation of a joint without getting high. It was mostly smoked by children attempting to imitate their parents but couldn't buy actual drugs, people who needed to be the sober member of a party, and people who wanted to quickly freshen their breath. Tassa thought it tasted sort of orangy and with the orange season still some months away it was about as close as she could get to one this time of year. She was blowing smoke through a weave that turned the smoke into the shape of little butterflies to entertain herself while she waited.

Her cigarello was running out just as a buggy pulled up to the bar. The door of the buggy popped open and Spayar stepped out. Tassa took the cigarello out of her mouth and ground the end in her fingers. Spayar paid the driver and quickly got out of the rain to join Tassa under the awning.

“You’re early,” she said.

“I try to be,” he said, self-consciously touching his hair. He'd styled his hair nicely.

“You look like you're going to court,” she said and reached up, messing his hair up a bit with his fingers. It was too perfect, too sleek. “The Pale Cross is from the East, he doesn't trust fancy boys.”

“I see,” Spayar said, patiently allowing her to restyle his hair. She couldn't help but think he needed a hair cut. It was out of style for men to have hair long enough to tie back. It didn't help that Spayar’s wavy curls were thick and difficult to manage. “You done?” he asked as she got distracted thinking about giving Spayar the name of her hair dresser.

“Oh, yes,” she said and pulled her hands from his locks.

“He have a real name by the way?” Spayar asked.

“Not that I know,” she said. “He showed up calling himself the Pale Cross and we’ve been calling him that since he killed Jakkerty. Sort of rumor is he's from across the Spine, came here to escape a punishment of some sort.”

“You believe it?”

“I think Pale Cross is only as dangerous as he wants us to believe he is. No one questions him.”

“Fear of a knife to the throat?”

“He’s not above violence, no,” she said, pursing her lips. She had seen him threaten enough people to not want Spayar to get too close to him. She certainly didn't want them to become anything. “Also, don't touch him.”

“No? He's not as hands on as you?” and he winked at her. Her heart fluttered a little.

She refocused. She knew better than to get distracted by how cute Spayar was. It had been her undoing more than once. Like getting this meeting in the first place! “No,” she said seriously. “He doesn't like being touched.”

“I don't need to touch him, relax,” Spayar rolled his eyes at her.

“Good.”

“Now we going to keep standing out in the rain, Tassa?” he asked patiently, knowing she'd been stalking.

“I guess,” she swallowed and pushed the door open.

The bar was warm and dry with a small band playing in a corner. People were singing along. While the purchase of drugs outside of Smoker’s Den was was punishable by such a steep fine most people didn't bother that didn't stop you from bringing your own or from some places just offering it for free with the purchase of a meal. King’s Casket was the former and despite not selling it the place smelled of about six types of drugs. So the singing along with the band was sloppy at best. The bar itself didn't sell drugs or alcohol but rather a specialty to Assarus, a type of fish that was if prepared incorrectly would kill you and if prepared correctly got you high.

The bar claimed to serve it properly but Tassa had never seen anyone order it since she'd started coming here and she'd spent a lot of time here with Jackertty before he'd been murdered. He'd been as close to a lover as she'd actually allow and that was mostly because it made her job easier. And it got the actual man she loved an in with the thief lord. She'd had worse sex for better reasons and she had no reason to complain. Jackertty hadn't been the best cutpurse in the city for no reason. He had very talented hands. She missed him only because Pale Cross was more dangerous for Spayar’s health. Hopefully that wouldn't be the case much longer.

In a back room was where the thief lord held court. Had been for over a century. Mostly it was a place the thief lord collected their dues from the other thieves, cutpurses and cat burglars in the city. They kept the Guard Commander’s hand well greased with atrins and unless caught in the direct act most thieves were just forced to return the stolen goods and not worse. In return for turning a blind eye most of the time the thief lord was to keep his small underworld in check and not reach their hands too far. It was two large booth tables and a bench along one wall. On the bench was a musician offering good music away from the more rowdy band playing in the main room. On one booth several people were playing a heated dice and card game.

The other table had Pale Cross and those he decided he liked. The “court”, as it were, hadn't changed as much as they thought when Jakertty died. Pale Cross sat with a slight distance between them and he lived up to his name. He had platinum blonde hair and icy cold white skin with pale blue eyes like ice. Tassa didn't like looking directly into them. He was a surprisingly small man of slight stature and feminine features with full lips, elegant cheek bones, and a soft jaw. If Tassa didn't know better she'd have taken Pale Cross for a woman but he insisted he was a man so who was she to argue?

She looked over at Spayar and saw him take in Pale Cross too. She saw the initial confusion in his brow a moment before he decided that his opinions on the subject were irrelevant.

Tassa motioned Spayar to follow her over to the table Pale Cross was sitting at and leaned on the table a bit, drawing their attention. “Boss, your meeting is here,” she said sweetly.

Pale Cross looked from Tassa to Spayar. He leaned over to the warlock next to him and said something into their ear. They got up and patted Spayar down. “Oh, careful there friend,” Spayar said in his charming way when they patted down his crotch and groin to make sure he had no weapons. They gave him a hard look. “I know better than to bring a weapon to King’s Casket, don't worry,” it should have been patronizing but coming from Spayar it was pleasant, delightful even. She'd known him nearly two decades and she still didn't know how he made a threat sound like a compliment.

“He’s clean,” the warlock announced and sat back down.

Tassa slid into the booth but Spayar stood, standing opposite Pale Cross where he was cloistered in the middle and back of the booth. “Hello, I don't think we've been properly introduced,” he gave a slight hand bow. “I’m Spayar Hillsman Junior.”

“I know who you are,” Pale Cross said, his voice was high for a man and Tassa wasn't sure if he intentionally pitched it up or down. “I am the Pale Cross, what do you want?”

Spayar smiled in a good mood. “I guess this is just a formality of sorts. I use some of your men for my own services.”

“I am aware of that.”

“And I just wanted to make sure you won't cause me trouble than,” Spayar didn't say it like a threat but Tassa knew it was a threat. Casually she coated her fingers in magic and twirled them under the table. The basic structure of a weave formed between her fingers in case she needed to finish it quickly and cast.

Pale Cross stood up. They were at least a hand shorter than Spayar and didn't even have half the air to compete with Spayar’s presence. Privately Tassa thought it was rather comical that Pale Cross decided that they were tougher than Spayar. She'd only heard some of the things Spayar had done while serving his time but she knew rooting out Feds had been on the list. “Don’t think to intimidate me,” he said.

“I would never,” Spayar said graciously. “I appreciate your cooperation but I don't require it. Don't misunderstand my intentions thief lord, you work with me: not the other way around,” he casually put his hands in the pocket of his rain coat. “This is Assarus and I don't know what you're people have told you or what you think you are but I assure you it isn't my boss,” he chuckled.

Tassa frowned but also knew everyone in this room. They all, at one point or another, worked for Spayar. And the thing that differed between Spayar and Pale Cross was that Spayar paid and Pale Cross expected to get paid. She knew none of them were more loyal to Pale Cross than money but she was more worried that Pale Cross would get angry. That was how she heard Jakertty had died. He'd said the wrong thing or done something and Pale Cross had stabbed him nine times in the chest with his own belt knife.

“This is my domain, Hillsman. You don't get to talk to me like that here. You're a child and if you aren't more respectful I'll do to you what I did to Jakertty.”

The musician had stopped playing and people from the gaming table were half paying attention. Spayar was still just smiling in casual pleasantry. He sucked his teeth in amusement and stepped up to the table, putting his hands down on the table. “I’m not here to threaten you. I just want us to be friends,” he said nicely. “I like using the thieves in the city as my sources of information. I prefer if we cooperate. It makes everyone happier and everyone makes money. Now don't do something stupid like make me your enemy, Pale Cross.”

“Or what?” he challenged. “You’re just a commoner boy. What could you do to me?”

Spayar stood up and casually held his hand out. To everyone's surprise but Tassa’s Pale Cross’s knife jumped out of his belt sheath and landed tang first into his palm. Elemental warlocks weren't common and people weren't expecting or ready for one when they appeared, much less a mettalurgist like Spayar. Spayar put the point against his palm and casually spun it, it didn't break the skin. “All sorts of things,” he said casually. “I’d like some privacy,” he glanced around the room. The musician was the first to get up and the game was quickly packed up.

“Where are you going?” Pale Cross asked as members of his booth got up.

“There’s something you need to learn, Cross,” Spayar said, still casually playing with their knife. “I’ve been gone for two years but everyone still likes me more than you. Do you know why?”

Tassa got up but didn't want to. She gave Spayar a nervous look but he was just so sure of himself. So confident and pleasant. If she was any less worried she'd have found it really hot. The game table was empty and the other booth was quickly emptying. Tassa reluctantly left the room with the others. “Because I pay,” Spayar was saying as the door was closed, “Just like I will make you if you cross me.”

Tassa immediately put her ear against the door but was rewarded with nothing. “Come now Tassa, you know nothing gets through the door,” Philiphe said.

“I’m worried,” she said.

“About what? I'm glad that kid is back. Uhg that Pale Cross is so pretentious,” Bruna said. “And maybe now we can make some money again.”

She looked at them, “You forget how Jakertty got got?” she demanded.

“Yeah but Jakertty was an idiot,” Bruna said.

“Pretty was like his only selling point,” Lassie said. “That’s why you liked him.”

“Marginally,” Tassa said.

“The kid will be fine,” Philiphe said.

When the others dispersed but Tassa stayed by the door until it opened again. Spayar came out, his bottom lip split but in good spirits. “Spayar!”

“Oh, hey,” he said cheerfully, closing the door behind him.

“Your face,” she touched his face gently with her fingertips. “You should go see Mali. What happened?”

“We came to an understanding,” Spayar said. He let her fret over his face for a few more seconds before pulling away. “It’s fine Tassa. Just a lip.” Not just s lip. Spayar’s beautiful lip on his beautiful face.

“And Pale Cross?”

“He sees things my way now,” he said. “That's all that needs to be done here. Thank you for getting me the meeting. I wish it hadn’t ended quite like that but there's no helping stubborn people.”

“And what about you?”

“I told my mom I'd be home for fifths and Vondugard needed to talk to me.”

She sighed. “So leaving me with the mess?”

“Oh, he's not a mess,” Spayar said. “I let him get one punch in because it seemed like he needed it. He's right now.”

“Alright,” she still frowned that his pretty face was ruined. “You’re sure you're okay?”

“Right as sunshine, my lady,” he said in that cute teasing way he did that always made her heart skip a little. “I haven't felt this upbeat since I came back from serving my time.” It didn't take a genius to read between the lines on that one. “You want to come to fifths?”

“You’re inviting me?” Normally Spayar didn't like her around his sisters. Not because he minded but apparently his father had nearly had a heart attack when his little sister Anora had asked him what a whore was after the last time she'd visited.

“Why not? Not like there's anything else for you to do here. Cross is going to be a bit private for a while I think,” he grinned a tad recklessly that with his missed hair she'd given him made him even more handsome. “Besides, you know my addim, she loves when I bring friends over to eat.”

“Can I ask what you did to him?” she asked even as she followed him out of the bar, past the singing stoners.

“Nothing too bad,” was all Spayar said and they stepped out under the awning. By law all buildings had to have at least a five foot across awning that spanned the entire length of the building without breaks. It was to be water proof and do it's best to keep the sidewalk dry during the rainy season. It allowed for fairly easy foot travel which was all you could do in Cat’s Cradle as hireable buggies didn't transverse the little neighborhood, the streets were usually too narrow and winding. That and you were likely to get mugged.

The rain had picked up substantially since the state of the meeting. “But not dead?”

“Gods no. That would make my job far too difficult,” he said and walked on the outside of the sidewalk so any rain would hit him first. She grabbed his arm as they walked and he comfortably looped it through hers. “But he should be much less annoying for all our parties and more so for anyone not me,” he smiled pleasantly at her.

“I think I like post time Spayar even more than pre time,” she said, giving his arm a squeeze. He scoffed but was grinning. “I missed you.”

“Yes, I know.”

“I wrote.”

“I know. I literally didn't write back to anyone. I was far too busy being the errand boy of a war alchemist and trying not to puke at all hours.”

Tassa giggled, “That sounds like some of ours the first time they got on a ship.” They crossed a water logged street, rushing through the heavy rain back into the safety of the sidewalk awnings. When Tassa had first arrived at King’s Casket it hadn't been raining so she hadn't brought an umbrella and Spayar was without his wide hat. She was sure it had been a conscious choice to not carry anything in his person.

“Yes but this alchemist was trying to induce vomiting. It was quite bothersome after a while.”

“That sounds awful,” she frowned.

“You got used to it.”

“That wasn't all you did I'm sure.”

They stopped at the end of a block and Spayar turned to her, his pretty brown eyes serious. “I did kill some people if that's what you're getting at.”

“In not so many words,” she said. “All Feds?”

“Mostly,” was all he said and pulled her across another intersection. She didn't push anymore. Actual Feylon bandits weren't common but it was never fun to deal with them, same for Feylon pirates who decided to rob from their own countrymen. She'd made enough searing weaves into the skin of her fellow Feylon to not want to talk about it either.

“Have you heard from Vondugard?” she asked instead.

“Yes. He's joining us for fifths as well.”

“Good news?”

Spayar didn't answer for a block. There was one left and they could see rentable cabbies at the wide intersection where Cat’s Cradle met Swan Box. “I’m very worried,” was all he said.

“Spay…” she frowned but stopped when he gave her a look. “You know.”

“I do.” She hugged his arm.

“What’s your mother making for fifths?” she changed the subject. She hated seeing upset like this. Hated seeing him worried about dying. She wished she’d known him sooner when they were young and she could have pointed right at that blonde brat and gone ‘Spayar doesn't want to be friends with you’. She did not and never would forgive Vondugard for being such an unappreciative jerk about how wonderful Spayar was and how devoted he was. Vondugard didn't deserve him. She did.

She immediately squashed the thought. She wasn't doing this to herself. She knew Spayar’s preferances. It didn't matter what Tassa did or said or how she acted. She could love him to the Shadow Lands and back but he'd never feel the same way. She knew he loved her as his friend but that was all she'd ever be.

“Goose,” he said.

She wrinkled her nose a little. She wasn't fond of goose. She preferred squab or duck. But she wasn't going to look free food in the mouth. “Sounds good.”

They stopped at the sidewalk by one of the buggies. “Can I give you a ride?” the driver asked.

“Yes, going to Bellringer, Synerstock Street,” Spayar said and opened the door for Tassa. She got into the clam shell shaped cab and Spayar got in next to her.

“What end?” the driver asked, looking back at them.

“Underhill Smithing,” Spayar said. “You know the place?” They nodded. “There.”

“Right away,” and the driver turned back around and clicked to his poor sodden horse. But better the horse than them.

“Cut through Swan Island too,” Spayar said as they started down the road. The cabbie looked back questioning, Spayar just flashed his medalian from inside the breast of his jacket.

“Right away,” the driver turned his horse north immediately instead of continuing easy to go the long way around the lake.

“So that's how you got here so fast,” Tassa said, moving closer to Spayar, partly to get out of the rain and partly because she wanted to. He just put an arm over her shoulders.

“Pays to be me sometimes,” he squeezed her shoulder.

Tassa asked him more about his served time while on the way to the Hillsman home. They ended up sharing a few stories and the driver even added one of his own. Most of Spayar's stories involved getting purposefully poisoned at some point or throwing up. She would have hated being part of his squad.

Finally they arrived at the building and Spayar directed the driver around the side alley to the front door that led to the side yard. He paid the cabbie and Spayar grabbed the umbrella he'd left in his horse’s shed to get them to the door where warm smells were pouring out of. “I miss fifths?” Spayar asked loudly as he closed the umbrella.

“Nope. Just in time!” Anora was sitting at the table already. “Miss Tassy! You came back!” she waved excitedly from the table. Tassa smiled.

“Tassy?” Relora poked her head out of the kitchen. “Tassa, welcome back,” she smiled warmly and Tassa smiled wider. She'd been slightly worried Spayar's parents wouldn't want her to come back after the whole whore situation. “I hope you're hungry, I made goose!”

“Can’t wait,” Tassa said.

“Calli! Vondugard! Come down for fifths,” Relora called in a volume only mother's calling their children could muster. Or Tassa thought so. She'd never met hers. “Spayar go get your father.”

“I’m getting Tassa a chair though-”

“Go get your father first,” Relora said and went back into the kitchen.

Spayar sighed, “Just sit, I'll pull up another chair.”

“Alright,” Tassa said and sat next to Anora who was vibrating in excitement, her big loose curls quivering in their three high tails Relora had put them in. “Hi,” Tassa said with a wide smile she reserved for small children and house cats.

“Tassy, do you want to know a secret?” she asked softly, dropping her voice.

Tassa leaned down a little, “I love secrets,” she said softly.

“It’s about my big brother,” she said as Calli and Vondugard came down the stairs.

“Oh? Well you have to tell me then.”

“Spayar’s horse doesn't have a name and me, Duren, and Calli get to come up with one,” she said excitedly.

“What?” Tassa was so taken aback she sat up. “Spayar didn't name his horse?” she asked loud enough to be heard. Had she heard that right? What?

“He didn't what?” Vondugard asked, sitting down next to Calli.

“Duren said Spayar didn't name his horse,” Anora said.

“He didn’t— Spayar,” Vondugard barked when Spayar came back in with the other Hillman men,

“What now?” Spayar sighed as he went to go locate a chair of some sort.

“I gave you that mare three years ago what do you mean you didn't name it?”

Spayar looked at his little sisters with narrowed eyes, “I told you not to tell anyone,” he said, only slightly less threatening than when he'd been talking to Pale Cross.

It was completely lost on his sisters. “Anora did it,” Calli said mildly.

“Dooim, Calli is being mean to me,” Anora whined.

Spayar Senior looked at all the young people at his table took a deep breath and just went into the kitchen, talking to his wife in Dirnine. Tassa didn't blame him. “What do you mean you didn't name your horse?” Vondugard demanded.

“I’ve been busy,” Spayar dragged a stool over to sit at the table.

“You’ve had her three years.”

Spayar rubbed his face and looked at Anora, “I am never telling any of you a secret ever again.”

“I was just telling Tassy,” she said defensively.

“The point of a secret is you don't tell anyone. We’re not doing alchemy after fifths,” he said sternly.

“Alright everyone, that's enough,” Relora came out with two dishes of sides while Spayar senior followed behind with the carved goose.

“Addim Spayar and Calli are being mean to me,” Anora whined.

“Honey you did a bad thing telling Spayar's secret,” her heavily accented voice not quite scolding.

“But I was just-

Relora put the food down and went over to her daughter. “How would you feel if Spayar told all your friends about what you did the night he came home? Hmm?”

“I wouldn't like it,” Anora said, puffing up her lips and cheeks a bit in what Tassa thought was a very Spayar-like behavior.

“Exactly. That's how your brother feels you told Tassa.”

Anora just looked down at her lap, swinging her short legs in annoyance. Relorq got up and sat next to her husband who was half out of his seat putting goose on everyone’s plate. “I still can't believe you,” Vondugard was saying.

“I’m ignoring you,” Spayar said while he did just that and was busying himself with fifths, cutting up the goose and stuffing it and the baked yam into his mouth at the same time.

“Three years, Spayar. Three years,” Vondugard stressed.

“Don’t worry Von, we'll come up with a good one,” Calli said, putting her hand on the irate prince’s arm.

Vondugard frowned at Spayar before looking at Calli. “I fear what he would eventually name or not name it without you,” he told her.

“We’ll make sure it's good,” she patted his hand and as she did glanced across the table at Tassa. Tassa just rose her brows at Calli. Really? She was doing this? That was all she needed to do and Calli immediately snatched her hand away and Tassa could see the embarrassed flush on her nubby round ears. Tassa knew Vondugard didn't deserve Spayar but over her dead body was anyone ruining that for Spayar. At least Calli seemed aware there was a boundary. Good girl. Neither of the boys seemed to notice.

“Tassy do you not like your food?” Anora asked her, tugging on her sleeve a little.

She looked away from the royal drama baby to sweet Anora. “I was waiting for it to cool down a bit,” she said with a sweet voice and smile.

“De-de,” Anora said making Spayar look at her, his mouth full. “I’m sorry I told Tassa about your horse.”

Spayar side eyed Tassa and then Vondugard, “He would have figured it out eventually. It isn't a big deal.”

“So can you still show me some alchemy after fifths?” she asked hopefully.

“I don't want to,” he said and Tassa put some food in her mouth to not laugh at the faces the siblings were giving each other across the table. Their parents were willfully oblivious (or perhaps very good at faking it) to what was happening and were carrying on their conversation from the kitchen. Tassa couldn't follow because it was in Dirnine. Tassa liked this. She wished it would stay just like this.

#Wirteblr #Writblr #Original fantasy #Original story #Fantasy #zs

9 notes · View notes

asknightqueendany · 5 years

Note

The Big Five (Bran, Arya, Jon, Dany, Tyrion) who will survive is only something that George R. R. Martin wrote in a letter about the upcoming series in 199-fucking-3. It was supposed to be a trilogy. There was supposed to be a love triangle between Tyrion, Arya and Jon. Also dany wasn’t supposed to have dragons in that outline so STOP using the big 5 to justify that Sansa isn’t an important character! It’s getting old and transparent.

I’m cracking up. Have you people even READ the original outline? No? I highly suggest you check it out before sending me asks on it again. You can see the original photos and transcribed texts HERE.

But let’s go through it because it’s a glorious Friday afternoon and I feel like taking some people down a notch.

The things I seem most about GRRM’s original outline as reasons why it shouldn’t be taken seriously are: 1) it was supposed to be a trilogy and 2) there was supposed to be a love triangle between Jon, Arya, and Tyrion. I don’t know where you got the whole, “Dany wasn’t supposed to have dragons” thing anon because according to the outline, there be dragons:

But let’s take a look at the letter. George states, “There are three major conflicts set in motion in the chapters enclosed. These will form the major plot threads of the trilogy, intertwining each other in what should be a complex but exciting (I hope) narrative tapestry. Each of the conflicts presents a major threat to the peace of my imaginary realm, the Seven Kingdoms, and to the lives of my principal characters.”

The first threat, George says, is the Lannister/Stark conflict.

The second threat is the Dothraki invasion, led by Daenerys in what George thought would be his second novel - A Dance With Dragons.

And the Third and final threat to Westeros would be the Others in his presumed last novel - The Winds of Winter.

Now, right off the bat, George has already used all the book titles, with TWOW in progress. On the show, we’ve already seen the play out and conclusion of the Lannister/Stark war. Daenerys/Dothraki invasion of Westeros has happened in the show. And the Others had begun invading the Seven Kingdoms at the end of Season 7.

So all of what George first said has come to pass, just eight seasons and seven books, not a trilogy.

In AGOT, things George said would happen was that Ned and Cat were doomed (✓), things for the Starks would get worse before they got better (✓), Ned would find out what happened to Jon Arryn (✓), Robert would have an accident and the throne would pass to Joffrey (✓), Ned would be accused of treason (✓), and Ned would help Arya and Catelyn escape to Winterfell (did not happen). HOWEVER - Cat never needed escaping from King’s Landing AND Arya did escape King’s Landing after Ned’s beheading - she just didn’t receive help from him.

George says of Sansa: she will wed Joffrey (no) and bear him a son (no), “and when the crunch comes she will choose her husband and child over her parents and siblings, a choice she will later bitterly rue” (✓ - Sansa DOES choose Joffrey over her family in the Riverlands and then again in King’s Landing by going behind Ned’s back to tell Cersei of his plan to send them back to Winterfell and willingly volunteers to write the letter to Robb so that she can still marry Joffrey (not because Cersei made her write it, she did it for Joffrey). Tyrion befriends Sansa (✓) and Arya (no) and becomes disillusioned with his own family (✓).

I’m just going to quote the whole letter from now on because I’m too lazy to type…

“Young Bran will come out of his coma (✓), after a strange prophetic dream (✓), only to discover that he will never walk again (✓). He will turn to magic, at first in the hope of restoring his legs, but later for its own sake (✓). When his father Eddard Stark is executed, Bran will see the shape of doom descending on all of them, but nothing he can say will stop his brother Robb from calling the banners in rebellion (✓) . All the north will be inflamed by war (✓). Robb will win several splendid victories (✓), and maim Joffrey Baratheon on the battlefield (no), but in the end he will not be able to stand against Jaime and Tyrion Lannister and their allies. Robb Stark will die in battle (no), and Tyrion Lannister will besiege and burn Winterfell (no - kinda).” - Winterfell does get besieged and burned, only not by Tyrion, by Theon and Ramsay. And of course, Robb will die during his war against the Lannisters, just not in battle.

“Jon Snow, the bastard, will remain in the far north (✓). He will mature into a ranger of great daring (✓ - kinda), and ultimately will succeed his uncle as the commander of the Night’s Watch(✓ - kinda). When Winterfell burns, Catelyn Stark will be forced to flee north with her son Bran and her daughter Arya (no - kinda). Wounded by Lannister riders, they will seek refuge at the Wall, but the men of the Night’s Watch give up their families when they take the black, and Jon and Benjen will not be able to help, to Jon’s anguish (no). It will lead to a bitter estrangement between Jon and Bran (no). Arya will be more forgiving … until she realizes, with terror, that she has fallen in love with Jon, who is not only her half-brother but a man of the Night’s Watch, sworn to celibacy (no - kinda). Their passion will continue to torment Jon and Arya throughout the trilogy, until the secret of Jon’s true parentage is finally revealed in the last book (no - kinda).” - though Jon isn’t a ranger, he goes on a ranging and is pretty daring. He does become LC but not succeeding Benjen, succeeding Mormont. Bran does flee to the Wall, but to go beyond it. Arya tries to flee North/to the Wall but doesn’t make it. Jon is tormented by a love because of his NW vows of celibacy - Ygritte - and does develop feelings for his kin - Daenerys.

“Abandoned by the Night’s Watch, Catelyn and her children will find their only hope of safety lies even further north, beyond the Wall (no - kinda), where they fall into the hands of Mance Rayder, the King-beyond-the-Wall, and get a dreadful glimpse of the inhuman others as they attack the wildling encampment (no - kinda). Bran’s magic, Arya’s sword Needle, and the savagery of their direwolves will help them survive, but their mother Catelyn will die at the hands of the others (no - kinda).” - as stated, Bran does go beyond the Wall, Jon is the one who falls into the hands of Mance Rayder, Jon does get a glimpse of an Other attack on a wildling encampment (Hardhome), and Bran’s magic and direwolf do save him from the Others (The Door - Hodor).

“Over across the narrow sea, Daenerys Targaryen will discover that her new husband, the Dothraki Khal Drogo, has little interest in invading the Seven Kingdoms, much to her brother’s frustration(✓). When Viserys presses his claims past the point of tact or wisdom, Khal Drogo will finally grow annoyed and kill him out of hand, eliminating the Targaryen pretender and leaving Daenerys as the last of her line (✓). Danerys [sic] will bide her time, but she will not forget (✓). When the moment is right, she will kill her husband (✓) to avenge her brother (no), and then flee with a trusted friend into the wilderness beyond Vaes Dothrak (✓ - kinda). There, hunted by Dothraki bloodriders (✓) [unclear] of her life, she stumbles on a cach***e of dragon’***s eggs (✓ - kinda) [unclear] of a young dragon will give Daenerys the power to bend the Dothraki to her will (✓). Then she begins to plan for her invasion of the Seven Kingdoms (✓). - Daenerys does wander the wilderness beyond Vaes Dothrak (after she hatches her dragons) with her Khalasar in the Red Waste. She does get dragons eggs, just given to her at her wedding instead of stumbling upon them (really, that’s just better storytelling on George’s part. If she had just randomly found them, it would feel too coincidental). Dany did kill Drogo but not to avenge Viserys; it was to put him out of his misery. Dany does use her powers to bend the Dothraki to her will (burning the Khals to become TSWMTW).

“Tyrion Lannister will continue to travel, to plot, and to play the game of thrones (✓), finally removing his nephew Joffrey in disgust at the boy king’s brutality (no - kinda). Jaime Lannister will follow Joffrey on the throne of the Seven Kingdoms (no - kinda), by the simple expedient of killing everyone ahead of him in the line of succession and blaming his brother Tyrion for the murders (no - kinda). Exiled (✓), Tyrion will change sides (✓), making common cause with the surviving Starks to bring his brother down (✓ - kinda), and falling helplessly in love with Arya Stark (✓ - kinda) while he’s at it. His passion is, alas, unreciprocated (✓ - kinda), but no less intense for that, and it will lead to a deadly rivalry between Tyrion and Jon Snow (yet to be seen).” - Joffrey is killed and Tyrion is accused though he wasn’t guilty. Cersei follows her son to the throne after Tommen’s death (which was her fault so she essentially killed him), Tyrion joins Daenerys to bring down Cersei, he falls in love with Dany (according to all of Peter’s interviews about his feelings for Daenerys), as Dany is in love with Jon, it seems Tyrion’s affections are reciprocated, and we don’t yet know if Tyrion and Jon will fight to the death. It’s possible.

So anon, I’d say so far as George’s predictions go for the entire series, he’s gotten it closer to his original outline than not. So please, for the last goddamn time, leave me alone with this bullshit that the Original outline doesn’t mean anything so far as Sansa’s character and I should stop referring to it. Almost everything George predicted he’d write, has come to pass. Perhaps not how he originally thought…but largely, it’s all happened.

Wanna know why Sansa’s a “major character” in the show? Look:

And it’s because of Turner’s strength, Benioff continued, that it made sense to give Sansa a dramatic storyline this season and to use Ramsay’s engagement for that very purpose. In fact, the showrunners first thought about putting Sansa and Ramsay together back when they were writing season 2. “We really wanted Sansa to play a major part this season,” Benioff said. “If we were going to stay absolutely faithful to the book, it was going to be very hard to do that.

D&D wanted it. It’s not George’s story or George’s plan. Dan and Dave like Sophie’s acting and wanted her to play a more major role. So they gave her that. It has absolutely nothing to do with the series as a whole or the endgame. Sansa is not a main character and she will matter very little to the endgame.

6 notes · View notes

curly-q-reviews · 5 years

Photo

ROAD TO THE OSCAR MAYER WIENER AWARDS 2K19

Black Panther, 2018 (dir. Ryan Coogler)

Nominated for: Best Original Score, Best Original Song, Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing

ok y’all lets get this party started with a movie i didnt get to catch in theaters (i think i ended up renting it) but people were absolutely raving about it all of last year, and for good reason i gotta say! it was one of the better marvel films that came out last year (though in my humble opinion Infinity War takes the gold)

speaking of marvel lets talk about it for a spell! lets have a lil sit-down chit-chat shall we!! cause its kind of insane how much of an american media phenomenon marvel has become, they are arguably single-handedly responsible for reviving the superhero movie subgenre and now these types of movies bring hollywood more dineros than they probably know what to do with (besides make more superhero movies). what used to be a niche market where only your most hardcore of nerdy types dared to dwell has been embraced into the mainstream wholeheartedly, and now its hard to imagine the american film industry without them.

from a film critique standpoint, marvel movies seem to be a hit-or-miss as far as quality, however i cant really think of a particular marvel movie that i thought was a total piece of hot garbage (the first two Thor movies come close but they were more boring than anything else). however last year was a real success for the studio, they just kept pumping out quality movies left and right and once disney managed to get its grubby lil mouse paws on Spider-man it was a done deal baby. DC and other companies have tried again and again to recreate the success that Marvel has managed and so far they’ve failed to various degrees. Marvel’s just got that special something with their cinematic universe, some magical combo of great actors and creative directors and an ever-expanding budget that keeps them staying at the top every time.

so whats my stance on superhero movies??? well theyre not my usual cup of tea but i gotta say they’re real damn entertaining. i kinda view them like a high-speed ride at an amusement park, super fun and thrilling and exhilarating and just a real good time! but thats about as far as it goes for me, and im sure thats the same for a lot of people. to be honest its kinda refreshing to have movies that quality-wise are up to my standards that i dont have to think too hard about. so for me the movies i typically go for are like museums, whereas superhero movies (and action movies in general) are like a carnival. both entertaining and fun, but the latter is just all about letting loose and not wondering about the why’s and how’s. when i think about it, this kinda mindset is for sure a factor in how these movies got so popular, because with the shitshow that is our current government and the potential imminent death of our planet people are once again looking for movies as a form of escapism, rather than a way to get deep and philosophical and ask the tough questions and see something profound.

with that being said, despite some exceptions that have proven me wrong to my utter joy and delight (im looking at u Logan), i expect movies that are nominated for wiener awards to be more like museums than like carnivals y’know what i mean? u catchin my drift??? u takin what im dishin out???? the academy awards have a long history of prestige, of nominating the best of the best of any given year. quite a few movies that won oscars are now considered to be timeless classics. which is why superhero movies, at least the typical marvel types that are chocked to the brim with CGI and epic massive fight scenes and explosions, dont really strike me as anything that could eventually become a timeless classic. the amount of computer-generated effects alone will make these movies feel really dated as soon as like five years from now with how fast technology is progressing. i just dont see it happening.

and that brings us to the first wiener award nominee ill be talking about, Black Panther. this isnt director Ryan Coogler’s first time at the rodeo; his first feature film Fruitvale Station received critical acclaim in 2013, and the spiritual Rocky sequel Creed actually got nominated for some oscars a few years ago. so we’ve got a promising and talented director at the helm which is a great start! we’ve also got a stellar cast with the likes of michael b. jordan (who has been in all of Coogler’s films so far), lupita nyong’o, angela bassett, and forest whitaker in the bunch. it also has the astronomical financial backing of Supreme Overlord Disney so u know this is gonna be some high-quality shit.

so i’m gonna tell y’all why i think this movie got nominated for so many oscars, because in a way i do think this movie is deserving of noms from the academy. theres no denying that it is very groundbreaking for a movie of this scale and magnitude to have a black director and a nearly all-black cast. in fact, i think a lot of the crew members (including set and costume design) were black as well. thats fuckin huge my guy. and this movie was by no means a flop either; it ended up being one of the highest-grossing films of 2018 and stayed in theaters for a loooong-ass time. and not only were the people on this project mostly black, the movie itself is a story praising and showing off the beauty of african culture without exotifying or demeaning it in any way. like i can say 100% without a doubt that this movie deserves its best costume design nom cause holy shit the outfits in this movie are stunning, just the perfect blend of ancient/current tribal african aesthetics and a more futuristic sleek style that any fashion enthusiast can drool over.

i cant say much about best musical score or best sound mixing or anything like that cause it all seemed like typical marvel stuff to me and wasnt all that memorable. however i can say that the production design on this movie, while it didnt impress me as much as costuming, did still impress me. the one thing i gotta knock it on is all the fucken CGI, like whole entire towns and landscapes were digitally rendered. i wouldve been a lot more impressed and would agree more to the production design nom if they used more practical effects and real sets/locations.

so. best picture. this is where i feel the most conflicted. cause this is where i now have to look past all the pretty fancy visuals and music and look at the actual meat of this movie, its story and characters. usually best picture noms also get noms for things like best actress, best script, and best director, cause those are all really important elements of a good film. ur movie can look and sound as pretty as it wants but if the storys shit and the characters are shit and the actings shit then u dont have much going for u.

and by no means am i saying that Black Panther was shitty in these aspects, it was just well. passable. it was ok. but nothing to write home about

we got some good performances from newcomers letitia wright and chadwick boseman, lupita kills it as always, but then everyone else was like. okay. michael b. jordan didnt really do his best in this and idk if its the script’s fault or something but it was weird. and speaking of the script it was uuuuhhhhh well. not great. every time i think about that “what are those” reference i die a little inside. and the story overall wasnt really anything new when u break it down, just another “son of king struggles to take his place” narrative. and that aspect of the story couldve actually been more developed into something interesting, i found myself really intrigued with the political scenes. but there just wasnt enough of that cause they needed to make more room for the PEW PEW POW EXPLOSIONS

granted, movies with lots of shimmer but little substance have been nominated for best picture before (just look at James Cameron’s Avatar which is apparently getting a sequel now????????). and its not even that this movie is completely devoid of substance cause theres some interesting things going on plot-wise, and some stand-out characters too (shuri is the boss and no one can tell me otherwise). its just, u know, a good superhero movie. nothing really profound about the story itself except for the cultural, historical, and social context behind it.

so lemme get back to why i think this movie got a best picture nom. i think the academy wants to keep up their appearance of being #woke now by continuing to nominate more than one poc-heavy project each year, but they seem to be caring less and less about the actual overall quality of these movies. and theres even some movies on the noms list that i think actually have what it takes to be a strong oscars contender, like If Beale Street Could Talk and BlacKkKlansmen. but i think in Black Panther’s case, they were under a lot of pressure to give it top noms (or any noms at all) because of the intensely positive response this movie got, as well as the accusations of racism to people who didnt think it was as great as fans were saying.

also i have no doubt that Supreme Overlord Disney like threw piles and piles of money at the academy like they tend to do (cause i’d bet good money thats the only fucken way Incredibles 2 got nominated for anything)

well anyway ive gone on long enough about this, lemme know what y’all think. really the only nom im iffy about when it comes to this movie is Best Picture, but the others i think are well enough deserved, especially costume design. so i guess the one thing i struggle with is this: does a movie becoming a pop culture phenomenon and being groundbreaking in its cast and crew count as enough for it to be nominated for the top prize of the wiener awards, despite any fallbacks in script, direction, and acting? idk man im just hoping it doesnt get the award by default or something but then again maybe after watching all the other nominees it may turn out that the rest of them were worse than Black Panther i guess i’ll have to find out

stay tuned for my A Star Is Born review y’all stay fresh and funky eat ur vegetables stay in school u dont need drugs when ur high on life

#road to the oscar mayer weiner awards 2k19 #curly q reviews #black panther #oscars #academy awards #oscars 2019 #chadwick boseman #letitia wright #lupita nyong'o #forest whitaker #angela bassett #marvel #superhero movies #best picture #fruitvale station #creed #ryan coogler #thor #avengers infinity war

3 notes · View notes